User interface rendering in augmented or virtual reality systems

ABSTRACT

An augmented reality display system comprises a passable world model data comprises a set of map points corresponding to one or more objects of the real world. The augmented reality system also comprises a processor to communicate with one or more individual augmented reality display systems to pass a portion of the passable world model data to the one or more individual augmented reality display systems, wherein the piece of the passable world model data is passed based at least in part on respective locations corresponding to the one or more individual augmented reality display systems.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of pending U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 14/690,401, filed Apr. 18, 2015, which claims priority fromU.S. Provisional Patent App. Ser. No. 61/981,701 entitled “SYSTEMS ANDMETHOD FOR AUGMENTED AND VIRTUAL REALITY,” filed Apr. 18, 2014 and U.S.Provisional Patent App. Ser. No. 62/012,273 entitled “METHODS ANDSYSTEMS FOR CREATING VIRTUAL AND AUGMENTED REALITY,” filed Jun. 14,2014. The Ser. No. 14/690,401 application is also a continuation-in-partof U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/331,218 entitled “PLANARWAVEGUIDE APPARATUS WITH DIFFRACTION ELEMENT(S) AND SYSTEM EMPLOYINGSAME,” filed Jul. 14, 2014. The contents of the foregoing patentapplications are hereby expressly incorporated by reference into thepresent application in their entireties.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention generally relates to systems and methodsconfigured to facilitate interactive virtual or augmented realityenvironments for one or more users.

BACKGROUND

Virtual and augmented reality environments are generated by computersusing, in part, data that describes the environment. This data maydescribe, for example, various objects with which a user may sense andinteract with. Examples of these objects include objects that arerendered and displayed for a user to see, audio that is played for auser to hear, and tactile (or haptic) feedback for a user to feel. Usersmay sense and interact with the virtual and augmented realityenvironments through a variety of visual, auditory and tactical means.

Virtual or augmented reality (AR) systems may be useful for manyapplications, spanning the fields of scientific visualization, medicineand military training, engineering design and prototyping,tele-manipulation and tele-presence, and personal entertainment.Augmented reality, in contrast to virtual reality, comprises one or morevirtual objects in relation to real objects of the physical world. Suchan experience greatly enhances the user's experience and enjoyabilitywith the augmented reality system, and also opens the door for a varietyof applications that allow the user to experience real objects andvirtual objects simultaneously.

However, there are significant challenges in providing such a system. Toprovide a realistic augmented reality experience to users, the AR systemmust always know the user's physical surroundings in order to correctlycorrelate a location of virtual objects in relation to real objects.Further, the AR system must correctly know how to position virtualobjects in relation to the user's head, body etc. This requiresextensive knowledge of the user's position in relation to the world atall times. Additionally, these functions must be performed in a mannersuch that costs (e.g., energy costs, etc.) are kept low while speed andperformance are maintained.

There, thus, is a need for improved systems to provide a realisticaugmented reality experience to users.

SUMMARY

Embodiments of the present invention(s) are directed to devices, systemsand methods for facilitating virtual and/or augmented realityinteraction for one or more users.

Embodiments described herein provide augmented reality systems,typically with user worn components, for instance head worn headsets.Embodiments provide for various virtual user interface constructionsand/or user input modalities, for example via gestures and/orinteraction with totems.

In one aspect, an augmented reality system comprises a first augmentedreality display system corresponding to a first location, wherein thefirst individual augmented reality display system captures datapertaining to the first location, a second augmented reality displaysystem corresponding to a second location, wherein the second individualaugmented reality display system captures data pertaining to the secondlocation, and a server comprising a processor to receive the captureddata from the first individual augmented reality display system and thesecond individual augmented reality display system, and to construct atleast a portion of a map of the real world comprising the first andsecond locations based at least in part on the received captured datafrom the first and the second individual augmented reality displaysystems.

In one or more embodiments, the first augmented reality display systemis a head-mounted augmented reality display system. In one or moreembodiments, the first augmented reality display system is a room-basedsensor system. In one or more embodiments, the constructed map istransmitted to at least one of the first and second augmented realitydisplay systems.

In one or more embodiments, a virtual object is projected to at leastone of the first and second augmented reality display systems based atleast in part on the constructed map of the real world. In one or moreembodiments, the captured data is at least an image captured at thefirst or second location. In one or more embodiments, the captured datacorresponds to sensor data. In one or more embodiments, the processorextracts a set of map points from the data captured from the first andsecond augmented reality display systems, and wherein the set of mappoints are used to construct the map of the real world.

In one or more embodiments, a part of the map corresponding to the firstaugmented reality display system is transmitted to the second augmentedreality display system. In one or more embodiments, the captured datacomprises pose tagged images corresponding to the first location. In oneor more embodiments, the captured data comprises pose information of thefirst and second augmented reality display systems, wherein the map isconstructed based at least in part on the pose information.

In another aspect, a method of displaying augmented reality comprisescapturing a first set of data at a first augmented reality displaysystem corresponding to a first location, capturing a second set of dataat a second augmented reality display system corresponding to a secondlocation, receiving the first and second set of data from the first andsecond augmented reality display systems, and constructing a map of thereal world comprising the first and second locations based at least inpart on the data received from the first and second augmented realitydisplay systems.

In one or more embodiments, the first augmented reality display systemis a head-mounted augmented reality display system. In one or moreembodiments, the first augmented reality display system is a room-basedaugmented reality display system. In one or more embodiments, theconstructed map is transmitted to at least one of the first and secondaugmented reality display systems.

In one or more embodiments, a virtual object is projected to at leastone of the first and second augmented reality display systems based atleast in part on the constructed map of the real world. In one or moreembodiments, the captured data is at least an image captured at thefirst or second location. In one or more embodiments, the captured datacorresponds to sensor data.

In one or more embodiments, the method further comprises extracting aset of map points from the data captured from the first and secondaugmented reality display systems, and wherein the set of map points areused to construct the map of the real world. In one or more embodiments,a part of the map corresponding to the first augmented reality displaysystem is transmitted to the second augmented reality display system. Inone or more embodiments, the captured data comprises pose tagged imagescorresponding to the first location.

In one or more embodiments, the captured data comprises pose informationof the first and second augmented reality display systems, wherein themap is constructed based at least in part on the pose information.

In another aspect, a space-based sensor system, comprises at least onesensor to capture information pertaining to a space, wherein a pose ofthe image sensor relative to the space is known, and a processor toreceive the captured information, and to construct a map of the worldcomprising the space based at least in part on the captured information,and to transmit the map to one or more augmented reality display systemssuch that virtual content is displayed to one or more users of theaugmented reality display systems based at least on the constructed map.

In one or more embodiments, the at least one sensor is an image-basedsensor. In one or more embodiments, the at least one sensor is an audiosensor. In one or more embodiments, the at least one sensor is anenvironmental sensor. In one or more embodiments, the at least onesensor is a temperature-based sensor. In one or more embodiments, the atleast one sensor is a humidity-based sensor. In one or more embodiments,the pose comprises a position of the at least one sensor within theroom.

In one or more embodiments, the information is captured with respect toa reference frame corresponding to the space. In one or moreembodiments, the pose comprises an orientation of the at least onesensor within the room. In one or more embodiments, the space-basedsensor system is stationary.

In one or more embodiments, the processor performs one or moretransformations to relate a reference frame of the space-based sensor tothe reference frame corresponding to the space. In one or moreembodiments, the transformation comprises a translation matrix. In oneor more embodiments, the transformation comprises a rotation matrix.

In another aspect, an augmented reality system comprises a passableworld model comprising a set of map points corresponding to one or moreobjects of the real world, and a processor to communicate with one ormore individual augmented reality display systems to pass a piece of thepassable world to the one or more individual augmented reality displaysystems, wherein the piece of the passable world is passed based atleast in part on respective locations corresponding to the one or moreindividual augmented reality display systems.

In one or more embodiments, at least a portion of the passable worldmodel resides in the one or more individual augmented reality displaysystems. In one or more embodiments, at least a portion of the passableworld model resides in a cloud-based server. In one or more embodiments,the passable world is constantly updated based at least in part oninformation received from the one or more individual augmented realitydisplay systems. In one or more embodiments, a communication between thepassable world model and the individual augmented reality systems isasynchronous.

In another aspect, a method comprises detecting a location of a user ofan augmented reality display system, retrieving, based on the detectedlocation, data pertaining to the detected location of the user of theaugmented reality display system, wherein the data pertaining to thedetected location comprises map points corresponding to one or more realobjects of the detected location, and displaying one or more virtualobjects to the user of the augmented reality display system relative tothe one or more real objects of the location, based at least in part onthe retrieved data.

In one or more embodiments, the method further comprises determining aset of parameters corresponding to a movement of the user of theaugmented reality system relative to the detected location, calculating,based on the determined movement of the user, an anticipated position ofthe user, and retrieving another data pertaining to the anticipatedpositon of the user, wherein the other data pertaining to theanticipated position comprises map points corresponding to one or morereal objects of the anticipated position.

In one or more embodiments, the map points corresponding to one or morereal objects are used to construct a map of the real world. In one ormore embodiments, the method further comprises recognizing one or moreobjects of the real world based on the map points. In one or moreembodiments, the map points are used to create a coordinate space of thereal world, and wherein the one or more virtual objects are displayedbased on the created coordinate space of the real world. In one or moreembodiments, the method further comprises recognizing one or moreobjects of the real world based on the map points, and displaying thevirtual object based at least in part on a property of the recognizedobject. In one or more embodiments, the map points pertain to a geometryof the detected location.

In yet another aspect, an augmented reality display system comprises apassable world model data comprising a set of points pertaining to realobjects of the physical world, one or more object recognizers to run onthe passable world model data and to recognize at least one object ofthe real world based on a known geometry of a corresponding set ofpoints, and a head-worn augmented reality display system to displayvirtual content to a user based at least in part on the recognizedobject.

In one or more embodiments, the passable world model data comprisesparametric geometric data corresponding to the physical world. In one ormore embodiments, the passable world model data is constructed from datareceived from a plurality of augmented reality display systems, whereinthe plurality of augmented reality display systems capture datapertaining to a plurality of locations in the physical world.

In one or more embodiments, each object recognizer is programmed torecognize a predetermined object. In one or more embodiments, the pointsare 2D points captured from a plurality of augmented reality displaysystems. In one or more embodiments, one or more object recognizersutilizes a depth information captured from the plurality of augmentedreality display systems to recognize the at least one object.

In one or more embodiments, the one or more object recognizersidentifies the known geometry of an object relative to a known positionof the augmented reality display system that captured an imagecorresponding to the map points. In one or more embodiments, the one ormore object recognizers synchronizes a parametric geometry of therecognized object to the passable world model.

In one or more embodiments, the one or more object recognizers attach asemantic information regarding the recognized object to the parametricgeometry of the recognized object. In one or more embodiments, thesemantic information may be utilized to estimate a future position ofthe recognized object. In one or more embodiments, the one or moreobject recognizers receives sparse points collected from one or moreimages of the physical world. In one or more embodiments, the one ormore object recognizers outputs a parametric geometry of a recognizedobject.

In one or more embodiments, the semantic information is a taxonomicaldescriptor. In one or more embodiments, the augmented reality displaysystem further comprises a first object recognizer, wherein the firstobject recognizer is configured to recognize a subset of a type of anobject recognized by a second object recognizer, wherein the firstobject recognizer is run on data that has already been run through thesecond object recognizer.

In one or more embodiments, the augmented reality display system furthercomprises a ring of object recognizers that run on the passable worldmodel data, wherein the ring of object recognizers comprises at leasttwo object recognizers, and wherein a first object recognizer of the atleast two object recognizers recognizes a first object, and wherein asecond object recognizer of the at least two object recognizers a subsetof the first object.

In yet another aspect, a method of displaying augmented realitycomprises storing a passable world model data, wherein the passableworld model data comprises a set of points pertaining to real objects ofthe physical world, wherein the set of points are captured by aplurality of augmented reality display systems, processing the passableworld model data to recognize at least one object based at least in parton a known geometry of an object, and displaying a virtual content to auser of a particular augmented reality display system based at least inpart on a parameter corresponding to the recognized object.

In one or more embodiments, the passable world model data comprisesparametric geometric data corresponding to the physical world. In one ormore embodiments, the plurality of augmented reality display systemscapture data pertaining to a plurality of locations in the physicalworld. In one or more embodiments, the object recognizer is programmedto recognize a predetermined object. In one or more embodiments, the setof points comprise 2D points captured from a plurality of augmentedreality display systems.

In one or more embodiments, the one or more object recognizers utilize adepth information captured from the plurality of augmented realitydisplay systems to recognize the at least one object. In one or moreembodiments, the one or more object recognizers identifies the knowngeometry of an object relative to a known position of the augmentedreality display system that captured an image corresponding to the mappoints.

In one or more embodiments, the one or more object recognizerssynchronizes a parametric geometry of the recognized object to thepassable world model. In one or more embodiments, the one or more objectrecognizers attach a semantic information regarding the recognizedobject to the parametric geometry of the recognized object.

In one or more embodiments, the semantic information may be utilized toestimate a future position of the recognized object. In one or moreembodiments, the one or more object recognizers receives sparse pointscollected from one or more images of the physical world. In one or moreembodiments, the one or more object recognizers outputs a parametricgeometry of a recognized object.

In one or more embodiments, the semantic information is a taxonomicaldescriptor. In one or more embodiments, the method further comprisesrecognizing a first object through a first object recognizer, whereinthe first object recognizer is configured to recognize a subset of atype of an object recognized by a second object recognizer, wherein thefirst object recognizer is run on data that has already been run throughthe second object recognizer.

In one or more embodiments, the method further comprises running thepassable world model data through a ring of object recognizers, whereinthe ring of object recognizers comprises at least two objectrecognizers, and wherein a first object recognizer of the at least twoobject recognizers recognizes a first object, and wherein a secondobject recognizer of the at least two object recognizers a subset of thefirst object.

In another aspect, an augmented reality system comprises one or moresensors of a head-mounted augmented reality display system to capture aset of data pertaining to a user of the head-mounted augmented realitydisplay system, wherein a pose of the one or more sensors is knownrelative to the user, a processor to calculate a set of parametersregarding a movement of the user based at least in part on the capturedset of data, and animating an avatar based at least in part on thecalculated set of parameters regarding the movement of the user, whereinthe animated avatar is displayed as a virtual object when viewed throughone or more augmented reality display systems.

In one or more embodiments, the avatar mimics the movement of the user.In one or more embodiments, the processor performs a reverse kinematicsanalysis of the movement of the user to animate the avatar. In one ormore embodiments, the one or more sensors is a an image-based sensor. Inone or more embodiments, the set of data pertaining to the user isutilized to construct a map of the real world.

In one or more embodiments, the avatar is animated based on the movementof the user relative to a respective head-mounted augmented realitydisplay system of the user. In one or more embodiments, the posecomprises a position of the one or more sensors relative to the user. Inone or more embodiments, the pose comprises an orientation of the one ormore sensors relative to the user. In one or more embodiments, thecaptured data pertains to the user's hand movements.

In one or more embodiments, the captured data pertains to an interactionof the user with one or more totems of the head-mounted augmentedreality display system. In one or more embodiments, the user selects aform of the avatar. In one or more embodiments, the avatar is createdbased at least in part on an image of the user. In one or moreembodiments, the animated avatar is displayed to another user of anotherhead-mounted augmented reality display system.

In another aspect, a method of displaying augmented reality comprisescapturing a set of data pertaining to a movement of a user of ahead-mounted augmented reality display system, determining a pose of oneor more sensors of the head-mounted augmented reality display systemrelative to the user, calculating, based at least in part on thedetermined pose and the captured set of data, a set of parameterspertaining to the user's movement, and animating an avatar based atleast in part on the calculated set of parameters, wherein the animatedavatar is displayed as a virtual object to one or more users of aplurality of augmented reality display systems.

In one or more embodiments, the method further comprises performing areverse kinematic analysis of the movement of the user to animate theavatar. In one or more embodiments, the method further comprises addingthe captured set of data to a passable world model, wherein the passableworld model comprises a map of the real world. In one or moreembodiments, the avatar is animated based on the movement of the userrelative to a respective head-mounted augmented reality display systemof the user.

In one or more embodiments, the pose comprises a position of the one ormore sensors relative to the user. In one or more embodiments, the posecomprises an orientation of the one or more sensors relative to theuser. In one or more embodiments, the captured data pertains to theuser's hand movements.

In one or more embodiments, the captured data pertains to an interactionof the user with one or more totems of the head-mounted augmentedreality display system. In one or more embodiments, the animated avataris displayed to another user of another head-mounted augmented realitydisplay system.

In another aspect, an augmented reality system comprises a database tostore a set of fingerprint data corresponding to a plurality oflocations, wherein the fingerprint data uniquely identifies a location,one or more sensors communicatively coupled to an augmented realitydisplay system to capture data pertaining to a particular location, anda processor to compare the captured data with the set of fingerprintdata to identify the particular location, and to retrieve a set ofadditional data based at least in part on the identified particularlocation.

In one or more embodiments, the captured data is processed to modify aformat of the captured data to conform with that of the fingerprintdata. In one or more embodiments, the fingerprint data comprises a colorhistogram of a location. In one or more embodiments, the fingerprintdata comprises received signal strength (RSS) data. In one or moreembodiments, the fingerprint data comprises a GPS data.

In one or more embodiments, the fingerprint data of a location is acombination of data pertaining to the location. In one or moreembodiments, the particular location is a room within a building. In oneor more embodiments, the additional data comprises geometric map datapertaining to the location. In one or more embodiments, the processorconstructs a map based at least in part on the set of fingerprint datacorresponding to the plurality of locations.

In one or more embodiments, each fingerprint data that identifies alocation comprises a node of the constructed map. In one or moreembodiments, a first node is connected to a second node if the first andsecond node have at least one shared augmented reality device in common.In one or more embodiments, the map is layered over a geometric map ofthe real world. In one or more embodiments, the captured data comprisesan image of the user's surroundings, and wherein the image is processedto generate data that is of the same format as the fingerprint data.

In one or more embodiments, the one or more sensors comprises animage-based sensor. In one or more embodiments, a color histogram isgenerated by processing the image of the user's surroundings.

In yet another aspect, a method of displaying augmented realitycomprises storing a set of fingerprint data corresponding to a pluralityof locations of the real world, wherein the fingerprint data uniquelyidentifies a location, capturing a set of data corresponding to a user'ssurroundings through one or more sensors of an augmented reality displaysystem, and identifying a location of the user based at least in part onthe captured set of data and the stored set of fingerprint data.

In one or more embodiments, the method comprises processing the capturedset of data to modify a format of the captured data to conform with thatof the fingerprint data. In one or more embodiments, the fingerprintdata comprises a color histogram of a location. In one or moreembodiments, the fingerprint data comprises received signal strength(RSS) data.

In one or more embodiments, the fingerprint data comprises a GPS data.

In one or more embodiments, the fingerprint data of a location isgenerated by combining a set of data pertaining to the location. In oneor more embodiments, the particular location is a room within abuilding. In one or more embodiments, the method further comprisesretrieving additional data based at least in part on the identifiedlocation of the user. In one or more embodiments, the additional datacomprises geometric map data corresponding to the identified location.

In one or more embodiments, the method further comprises displaying oneor more virtual objects to the user of the augmented reality systembased at least in part on the geometric map of the identified location.In one or more embodiments, the method further comprises constructing amap based at least in part on the set of fingerprint data correspondingto the plurality of locations. In one or more embodiments, eachfingerprint data that identifies a location comprises a node of theconstructed map.

In one or more embodiments, a first node is connected to a second nodeif the first and second node have at least one shared augmented realitydevice in common. In one or more embodiments, the map is layered over ageometric map of the real world. In one or more embodiments, thecaptured data comprises an image of the user's surroundings, and whereinthe image is processed to generate data that is of the same format asthe fingerprint data.

In one or more embodiments, the method further comprises generating acolor histogram by processing the image of the user's surroundings. Inone or more embodiments, the constructed map is used to find errors inthe geometric map of the real world.

In another aspect, a method of displaying augmented reality comprisescapturing a first set of 2D map points through a first augmented realitysystem, capturing a second set of 2D map points through a secondaugmented reality system, and determining a 3D position of one or moremap points of the first and second set of 2D map points based at leastin part on the captured first and second set of 2D map points.

In one or more embodiments, the method further comprises determining apose of the first and second augmented reality systems. In one or moreembodiments, the pose comprises a position of the augmented realitysystem in relation to the set of 2D map points. In one or moreembodiments, the pose comprises an orientation of the augmented realitys system in relation to the set of 2D map points.

In one or more embodiments, the method further comprises determining adepth information of one or more objects through at least one of thefirst and second augmented reality systems. In one or more embodiments,the method further comprises determining a pose of a third augmentedreality system based at least in part on the determined 3D points of theone or more map points.

In one or more embodiments, the method further comprises constructing ageometry of one or more objects based at least in part on the determined3D points of the one or more map points. In one or more embodiments, thecaptured set of 2D map points are extracted from one or more imagescaptured through the first or second augmented reality systems.

In another aspect, a method of displaying augmented reality comprisescapturing a set of map points from the real world through a plurality ofaugmented reality systems, and constructing a geometric map of the realworld based at least in part on the captured set of map points, whereina node of a geometric map comprises a keyframe that captured at least afirst set of map points, and a strength of a connection between twonodes of the geometric map corresponds to a number of shared map pointsbetween the two nodes.

In one or more embodiments, the method further comprises identifying apoint of stress in the constructed geometric map. In one or moreembodiments, the point of stress is identified based at least in part oninformation retrieved from a topological map. In one or moreembodiments, the point of stress is identified based at least in part ona discrepancy in a location of a particular keyframe in relation to thegeometric map. In one or more embodiments, the point of stress isidentified based on a maximum residual error of the geometric map.

In one or more embodiments, the point of stress is distributed through abundle adjust process. In one or more embodiments, the identified pointof stress is radially distributed to a first wave of nodes outside thenode closest to the identified point of stress. In one or moreembodiments, the first wave of nodes outside of the node comprises anetwork or nodes that have a single degree of separation from the nodeclosest to the identified point of stress.

In one or more embodiments, the identified point of stress is furtherradially distributed to second wave of nodes outside the first wave ofnodes. In one or more embodiments, the nodes of the first wave of nodesare marked if the stress is radially distributed to the first wave ofnodes.

In another aspect, an augmented reality system comprises a set ofindividual augmented reality systems to capture a set of map points fromthe real world, a database to receive the set of map points and to storethe set of map points from the real world, and a processorcommunicatively coupled to the database to construct a geometric map ofthe real world based at least in part on the captured set of map points,wherein a node of the geometric map comprises a keyframe that capturedat least a first set of map points, and a strength of a connectionbetween two nodes of the geometric map corresponds to a number of sharedmap points between the two nodes.

In one or more embodiments, the processor identifies a point of stressin the constructed geometric map. In one or more embodiments, the pointof stress is identified based at least in part on information retrievedfrom a topological map. In one or more embodiments, the point of stressis identified based at least in part on a discrepancy in a location of aparticular keyframe in relation to the geometric map.

In one or more embodiments, the point of stress is identified based on amaximum residual error of the geometric map. In one or more embodiments,the point of stress is distributed through a bundle adjust process. Inone or more embodiments, the identified point of stress is radiallydistributed to a first wave of nodes outside the node closest to theidentified point of stress. In one or more embodiments, the first waveof nodes outside of the node comprises a network or nodes that have asingle degree of separation from the node closest to the identifiedpoint of stress.

In one or more embodiments, the identified point of stress is furtherradially distributed to second wave of nodes outside the first wave ofnodes. In one or more embodiments, the nodes of the first wave of nodesare marked if the stress is radially distributed to the first wave ofnodes.

In another aspect, a method of displaying augmented reality comprisescapturing a set of map points pertaining to the real world, wherein theset of map points are captured through a plurality of augmented realitysystems, determining a position of plurality of keyframes that capturedthe set of map points, determining a set of new map points based atleast in part on the captured set of map points and the determinedposition of the plurality of keyframes.

In one or more embodiments, the method comprises rendering a line fromthe determined position of the plurality of keyframes to respective mappoints captured from the plurality of keyframes, wherein the set of newmap points are determined based on the render. In one or moreembodiments, the method further comprises further comprising identifyinga point of intersection between multiple rendered lines, and wherein theset of new points are based at least in part on the identified points ofintersection. In one or more embodiments, the method further comprisesrendering a triangular cone from the determined position of theplurality of keyframes to respective map points captured from theplurality of keyframes, wherein the captured map point lies on abisector of the triangular cone.

In one or more embodiments, the method further comprises selectivelyshading the triangular cone such that the bisector of the triangularcone is the brightest portion of the triangular cone. In one or moreembodiments, the method further comprises identifying points ofintersection between at least two rendered triangular cones, wherein theset of new map points are based at least in part on the identifiedpoints of intersection. In one or more embodiments, the set of new mappoints are determined based at least in part on the brightness of theidentified points of intersection.

In one or more embodiments, the set of new map points are determinedbased at least in part on a pixel pitch corresponding to the identifiedpoints of intersection. In one or more embodiments, the set of new mappoints are determined based at least in part on a pixel pitchcorresponding to the identified points of intersection. In one or moreembodiments, the method further comprises placing a virtual keyframe inrelation to an existing set of keyframes, wherein the set of new mappoints are determined based at least in part on the virtual keyframe.

In one or more embodiments, the method further comprises determining amost orthogonal direction to the existing set of keyframes, andpositioning the virtual keyframe at the determined orthogonal direction.In one or more embodiments, the most orthogonal direction is determinedalong an x coordinate. In one or more embodiments, the most orthogonaldirection is determined along a y coordinate.

In one or more embodiments, the most orthogonal direction is determinedalong a z coordinates. In one or more embodiments, the method furthercomprises rendering lines from the virtual keyframe to the set of mappoints, and determining the new map points based at least in part on oneor more points of intersection of the rendered lines.

In one or more embodiments, the method further comprises applying asumming buffer to determine the points of intersection.

In one or more embodiments, the further comprises rendering triangularcones from the virtual keyframe to the set of map points, anddetermining the new map points based at least in part on one or morepoints of intersection.

In one or more embodiments, the method further comprises performing abundle adjust to correct a location of a new map point of the set of newmap points. In one or more embodiments, the set of new map points areadded to a map of the real world. In one or more embodiments, the methodfurther comprises delivering virtual content to one or more augmentedreality display systems based at least in part on the map of the realworld.

In yet another aspect, an augmented reality system comprises one or moresensors to capture a set of map points pertaining to the real world,wherein the set of map points are captured through a plurality ofaugmented reality systems, and a processor to determine a position of aplurality of keyframes that captured the set of map points, and todetermine a set of new map points based at least in part on the capturedset of map points and the determined position of the plurality ofkeyframes.

In one or more embodiments, the processor renders a line from thedetermined position of the plurality of keyframes to respective mappoints captured from the plurality of keyframes, wherein the set of newmap points are determined based on the render. In one or moreembodiments, the processor identifies a point of intersection betweenmultiple rendered lines, and wherein the set of new points aredetermined based at least in part on the identified points ofintersection.

In one or more embodiments, the processor renders a triangular cone fromthe determined position of the plurality of keyframes to respective mappoints captured from the plurality of keyframes, wherein the capturedmap point lies on a bisector of the triangular cone. In one or moreembodiments, the processor selectively shades the triangular cone suchthat the bisector of the triangular cone is the brightest portion of thetriangular cone.

In one or more embodiments, the processor identifies points ofintersection between at least two rendered triangular cones, wherein theset of new map points are based at least in part on the identifiedpoints of intersection. In one or more embodiments, the set of new mappoints are determined based at least in part on the brightness of theidentified points of intersection. In one or more embodiments, the setof new map points are determined based at least in part on a pixel pitchcorresponding to the identified points of intersection.

In one or more embodiments, the set of new map points are determinedbased at least in part on a pixel pitch corresponding to the identifiedpoints of intersection. In one or more embodiments, the processor placesa virtual keyframe in relation to an existing set of keyframes, whereinthe set of new map points are determined based at least in part on thevirtual keyframe. In one or more embodiments, the processor determines amost orthogonal direction to the existing set of keyframes, andpositions the virtual keyframe at the determined orthogonal direction.

In one or more embodiments, the most orthogonal direction is determinedalong an x coordinate. In one or more embodiments, the most orthogonaldirection is determined along a y coordinate. In one or moreembodiments, the most orthogonal direction is determined along a zcoordinates.

In one or more embodiments, the processor renders lines from the virtualkeyframe to the set of map points, and determines the new map pointsbased at least in part on one or more points of intersection of therendered lines. In one or more embodiments, the processor applies asumming buffer to determine the points of intersection.

In one or more embodiments, the processor renders triangular cones fromthe virtual keyframe to the set of map points, and determines the newmap points based at least in part on one or more points of intersection.In one or more embodiments, the processor performs a bundle adjust tocorrect a location of a new map point of the set of new map points. Inone or more embodiments, the set of new map points are added to a map ofthe real world. In one or more embodiments, virtual content is deliveredto one or more augmented reality display systems based at least in parton the map of the real world.

In another aspect, an augmented reality device comprises one or moresensors to detect at least one property pertaining to an ambient light,a processor communicatively coupled to the one or more sensors to modifyone or more characteristics associated with a virtual image to beprojected to the user of a head-mounted augmented reality system basedat least in part on the detected property pertaining to the ambientlight, and an optical sub-system to project light associated with thevirtual image having the at least one modified characteristic.

In one or more embodiments, the characteristic pertains to a location ofthe virtual image. In one or more embodiments, the one or more sensorscomprises a photodiode. In one or more embodiments, the location of theprojected virtual image corresponds to a dark area of the user's fieldof vision. In one or more embodiments, the characteristic pertains to acolor intensity of the virtual image.

In one or more embodiments, the processor selects one or more additionalvirtual objects to project to the user based at least in part on the atleast one detected property of the ambient light. In one or moreembodiments, the one or more additional virtual objects comprises ahalo. In one or more embodiments, the processor selects a filter tochange an intensity of the light associated with the virtual image. Inone or more embodiments, the processor selectively illuminates thevirtual image. In one or more embodiments, the characteristic pertainsto a speed of delivery of multiple frames corresponding to the virtualimage.

In one or more embodiments, the augmented reality device furthercomprises a spatial backlight to selectively illuminate a portion of theprojected light. In one or more embodiments, the augmented realitydevice further comprises a variable focus element (VFE) to alter aperceived depth of the light, wherein the perceived depth of light isaltered based at least in part on the at least one detected property ofthe ambient light.

In one or more embodiments, the VFE shapes the wavefront associated withthe virtual image synchronously with the spatial backlight. In one ormore embodiments, the augmented reality device further comprises a lowpass filter to identify a movement of the user's head relative to theworld.

In one or more embodiments, the characteristic is altered based at leastin part on the identified head movement. In one or more embodiments, thevirtual image is projected relative to a coordinate frame. In one ormore embodiments, the coordinate frame is a hip-coordinate frame. In oneor more embodiments, the coordinate frame is a world-centric coordinateframe. In one or more embodiments, the coordinate frame is ahand-centric coordinate frame. In one or more embodiments, thecoordinate frame is a head-centric coordinate frame.

In another aspect, a method of displaying augmented reality comprisesdetecting at least one property pertaining to an ambient light,modifying, based at least in part on the detected at least one propertypertaining to the ambient light, one or more characteristics associatedwith a virtual image to be projected to a user of a head-mountedaugmented reality system, and projecting light associated with thevirtual image having the one or more modified characteristics.

In one or more embodiments, the characteristic pertains to a location ofthe virtual image. In one or more embodiments, the one or more sensorscomprises a photodiode. In one or more embodiments, the location of theprojected virtual image corresponds to a dark area of the user's fieldof vision. In one or more embodiments, the characteristic pertains to acolor intensity of the virtual image.

In one or more embodiments, the method further comprises selecting oneor more additional virtual objects to project to the user based at leastin part on the at least one detected property of the ambient light. Inone or more embodiments, the one or more additional virtual objectscomprises a halo.

In one or more embodiments, the method further comprises selecting afilter to change an intensity of the light associated with the virtualimage. In one or more embodiments, the method further comprisesselectively illuminating the virtual image. In one or more embodiments,the characteristic pertains to a speed of delivery of multiple framescorresponding to the virtual image. In one or more embodiments, themethod further comprises altering a perceived depth of the virtual imagebased at least in part on the at least one detected property of theambient light through a variable focus element (VFE).

In one or more embodiments, the VFE shapes the wavefront associated withthe virtual image synchronously with the spatial backlight. In one ormore embodiments, the method further comprises identifying a movement ofthe user's head relative to the world. In one or more embodiments, thecharacteristic is altered based at least in part on the identified headmovement. In one or more embodiments, the virtual image is projectedrelative to a coordinate frame.

In one or more embodiments, the coordinate frame is a hip-coordinateframe. In one or more embodiments, the coordinate frame is aworld-centric coordinate frame. In one or more embodiments, thecoordinate frame is a hand-centric coordinate frame. In one or moreembodiments, the coordinate frame is a head-centric coordinate frame.

In another aspect, an augmented reality device comprises an opticalapparatus to project light associated with one or more virtual objectsto be presented to a user, a light probe to capture at least oneparameter associated with an ambient light; and a processor to select alight map based at least in part on the at least one captured parameterto modify the one or more virtual objects to be presented to the user.

In one or more embodiments, the processor selects the light map based atleast in part on input received from the user. In one or moreembodiments, a light associated with the modified one or more virtualobjects resembles that of real objects in an ambient environment of theuser. In one or more embodiments, the augmented reality device furthercomprises a library of light maps, wherein each light map of the libraryof light maps corresponds to a plurality of light parameters.

In one or more embodiments, the light probe comprises a camera of theaugmented reality device. In one or more embodiments, the selection ofthe light map is based at least in part on a closest approximation lightmap that comprises one or more characteristics that are closest to theat least one captured parameter.

In one or more embodiments, the at least one captured parametercorresponds to a frequency data of the light. In one or moreembodiments, the at least one captured parameter corresponds to adynamic range of the light. In one or more embodiments, the selection ofthe light map is based at least in part on a comparison of the capturedparameters against parameters associated with a plurality of light maps.

In one or more embodiments, the augmented reality device furthercomprises a neural network module, wherein the processor consults withthe neural network module to select the light map. In one or moreembodiments, the processor modifies the light map based at least in parton the at least one captured parameters pertaining to the ambientenvironment. In one or more embodiments, the processor combines datafrom a plurality of light maps based at least in part on the at leastone captured parameters pertaining to the ambient environment.

In one or more embodiments, wherein the processor creates a new lightmap based at least in part on the combined data. In one or moreembodiments, the light probe captures images of a 360 degree view of theambient environment through the augmented reality device, and whereinthe processor creates a light map based at least in part on the capturedimages of the 360 degree view of the ambient environment.

In one or more embodiments, the created light map is user-centric. Inone or more embodiments, the processor applies a transformation to thecreated user-centric light map, wherein the transformation reduces anerror corresponding to a distance between the user and a virtual objectto be presented to the user.

In one or more embodiments, the processor models the user-centric lightmap as a sphere centered on the user, and wherein the processor modelsan object-centric sphere around the virtual object to be lit, andwherein the processor projects the data from the user-centric sphereonto the object-centric sphere from a point of view of the object,thereby creating a new light map.

In one or more embodiments, a color intensity of the light map isattenuated based at least in part on the distance between the user andthe virtual object to be presented to the user. In one or moreembodiments, the augmented reality device further comprises a depthsensor to capture a depth value of a plurality of taxes of the createdlight map.

In one or more embodiments, the processor determines respectivecoordinates of the plurality of taxes, and wherein a color intensity ofthe light map is attenuated based at least in part on the determinedrespective coordinators of the plurality of taxes, thereby creating anew light map. In one or more embodiments, the augmented reality devicefurther comprises a database to store a plurality of light maps, whereinthe database further stores a map of the real world, and wherein theplurality to light maps are stored in a grid based at least in part onthe map of the real world.

In one or more embodiments, the processor selects the light map based atleast in part on a detected location of the user of the augmentedreality device and the stored grid of light maps. In one or moreembodiments, the processor updates a light map based at least in part onthe captured parameters.

In one or more embodiments, the processor updates the light map suchthat the update is not perceived by the user of the augmented realitydevice. In one or more embodiments, the processor updates the light mapbased at least in part on a detected circumstance. In one or moreembodiments, the detected circumstance is an eye movement of the user.

In one or more embodiments, the processor updates the light map when thevirtual object is out of the user's field of view. In one or moreembodiments, the processor updates the light map when the virtual objectis at a periphery of the user's field of view. In one or moreembodiments, the detected circumstance is a presence of a shadow overthe virtual object.

In one or more embodiments, the detected circumstance is a dimming of alight of the ambient environment. In one or more embodiments, thedetected circumstance is another virtual object that is likely to keep afocus of the user.

In another aspect, a method for displaying augmented reality, comprisescapturing at least one parameter associated with an ambient light,selecting a light map based at least in part on the captured parameter,modifying a virtual content to be presented to a user based at least inpart on the selected light map, and projecting light associated with themodified virtual content.

In one or more embodiments, the method further comprises selecting thelight map based at least in part on input received from the user. In oneor more embodiments, a light associated with the modified one or morevirtual objects resembles that of real objects in an ambient environmentof the user. In one or more embodiments, the method further comprisesstoring a library of light maps, wherein each light map of the libraryof light maps corresponds to a plurality of light parameters.

In one or more embodiments, the selection of the light map is based atleast in part on a closest approximation light map that comprises one ormore characteristics that are closest to the at least one capturedparameter. In one or more embodiments, the at least one capturedparameter corresponds to a frequency data of the light. In one or moreembodiments, the at least one captured parameter corresponds to a colorpalette of the light. In one or more embodiments, the at least onecaptured parameter corresponds to a dynamic range of the light. In oneor more embodiments, the selection of the light map is based at least inpart on a comparison of the captured parameters against parametersassociated with a plurality of light maps.

In one or more embodiments, the method further comprises consulting witha neural network to select the light map. In one or more embodiments,the method further comprises modifying the light map based at least inpart on the at least one captured parameters pertaining to the ambientenvironment. In one or more embodiments, the method further comprisescombining data from a plurality of light maps based at least in part onthe at least one captured parameters pertaining to the ambientenvironment.

In one or more embodiments, the method further comprises creating a newlight map based at least in part on the combined data. In one or moreembodiments, the method further comprises capturing images of a 360degree view of the ambient environment, and creating a light map basedat least in part on the captured images of the 360 degree view of theambient environment.

In one or more embodiments, the created light map is user-centric. Inone or more embodiments, the method further comprises applying atransformation to the created user-centric light map, wherein thetransformation reduces an error corresponding to a distance between theuser and a virtual object to be presented to the user. In one or moreembodiments, the method further comprises modeling the user-centriclight map as a sphere centered on the user, modeling an object-centricsphere around the virtual object to be lit, and projecting the data fromthe user-centric sphere onto the object-centric sphere from a point ofview of the object, thereby creating a new light map.

In one or more embodiments, the method further comprises attenuating acolor intensity of the light map based at least in part on the distancebetween the user and the virtual object to be presented to the user. Inone or more embodiments, the method further comprises determining adepth value of a plurality of taxes of the created light map. In one ormore embodiments, the method further comprises determining respectivecoordinates of the plurality of taxes, and wherein a color intensity ofthe light map is attenuated based at least in part on the determinedrespective coordinators of the plurality of taxes, thereby creating anew light map.

In one or more embodiments, the method further comprises storing a mapof the real world, wherein the map comprises coordinates of real objectsof the real world, and storing the plurality of light maps in a gridbased at least in part on the map of the real world.

In one or more embodiments, the method further comprises selecting thelight map based at least in part on a detected location of the user ofthe augmented reality device and the stored grid of light maps. In oneor more embodiments, the method further comprises updating a light mapbased at least in part on the captured parameters. In one or moreembodiments, the update is performed such that it is not perceived bythe user of the augmented reality device.

In one or more embodiments, the update is performed based at least inpart on a detected circumstance. In one or more embodiments, thedetected circumstance is an eye movement of the user. In one or moreembodiments, the method further comprises updating the light map whenthe virtual object is out of the user's field of view. In one or moreembodiments, the method further comprises updating the light map whenthe virtual object is at a periphery of the user's field of view. In oneor more embodiments, the detected circumstance is a presence of a shadowover the virtual object.

In one or more embodiments, the detected circumstance is a dimming of alight of the ambient environment. In one or more embodiments, thedetected circumstance is another virtual object that is likely to keep afocus of the user.

In yet another aspect, an augmented reality display system comprises anoptical apparatus to project light associated with one or more virtualobjects to a user, wherein the one or more virtual object is a virtualuser interface, a user interface component to receive user input inresponse to an interaction of the user with at least a component of thevirtual user interface, and a processor to receive the user input, todetermine an action to be performed based at least in part on thereceived user input.

In one or more embodiments, the user interface component comprises atracking module to track at least one characteristic of the user. In oneor more embodiments, the at least one characteristic pertains to theuser's eyes. In one or more embodiments, the at least one characteristicpertains to the user's hands.

In one or more embodiments, the at least one characteristic pertains toa totem of the user. In one or more embodiments, the at least onecharacteristic pertains to a head pose of the user. In one or moreembodiments, the at least one characteristic pertains to a naturalfeature pose of the user. In one or more embodiments, the virtual userinterface is rendered relative to a predetermined reference frame. Inone or more embodiments, the predetermined reference frame ishead-centered. In one or more embodiments, the predetermined referenceframe is body-centered.

In one or more embodiments, the predetermined reference frame isworld-centered. In one or more embodiments, the predetermined referenceframe is hand-centered. In one or more embodiments, the projection ofthe virtual user interface is based at least in part on an environmentaldata. In one or more embodiments, the system further comprises adatabase to store a map of the real world, wherein the map comprisescoordinates of real objects of the real world, and wherein theprojection of the virtual user interface is based at least in part onthe stored map.

In one or more embodiments, the user interface component comprises oneor more sensors. In one or more embodiments, the one or more sensors isa camera. In one or more embodiments, the one or more sensors is ahaptic sensor. In one or more embodiments, the one or more sensors is amotion-based sensor. In one or more embodiments, the one or more sensorsis a voice-based sensor. In one or more embodiments, the user interfacecomponent comprises a gesture detector.

In another aspect, a method of displaying augmented reality comprisesprojecting light associated with a virtual object to a user's eyes,wherein the virtual object comprises a virtual user interface,determining a user input from the user based at least in part on aninteraction of the user with at least one component of the virtual userinterface, and determining an action to be performed based at least inpart on the received user input.

In one or more embodiments, the action to be performed comprisesprojecting light associated with another virtual object. In one or moreembodiments, the method further comprises tracking at least onecharacteristic of the user, wherein the user input is determined basedat least in part on a predetermined pattern associated with the trackedcharacteristic. In one or more embodiments, the at least onecharacteristic pertains to the user's eyes.

In one or more embodiments, the at least one characteristic pertains tothe user's hands. In one or more embodiments, the at least onecharacteristic pertains to a totem of the user. In one or moreembodiments, the at least one characteristic pertains to a head pose ofthe user. In one or more embodiments, the at least one characteristicpertains to a natural feature pose of the user.

In one or more embodiments, the virtual user interface is renderedrelative to a predetermined reference frame. In one or more embodiments,the predetermined reference frame is head-centered. In one or moreembodiments, the predetermined reference frame is body-centered. In oneor more embodiments, the predetermined reference frame isworld-centered. In one or more embodiments, the predetermined referenceframe is hand-centered.

In one or more embodiments, the projection of the virtual user interfaceis based at least in part on an environmental data. In one or moreembodiments, the method further comprises storing a map of the realworld, wherein the map comprises coordinates of real objects of the realworld, and wherein the projection of the virtual user interface is basedat least in part on the stored map.

In another aspect, an eye tracking device to be used in a head-wornaugmented reality device comprises a plurality of light sources to emitlight, wherein the plurality of light sources are positioned in a mannersuch that a user's eye is illuminated, one or more sensors to detect oneor more characteristics pertaining to an interaction of the light fromthe plurality of light sources and the user's eyes, and a processor todetermine a movement of the user's eyes based at least in part on thedetected one or more characteristics.

In one or more embodiments, the characteristic pertains to lightreflected back from the eye. In one or more embodiments, thecharacteristic pertains to one or more reflections of objects from astructure of the user's eyes. In one or more embodiments, the pluralityof light sources are configured to vary at least one parameter of theemitted light. In one or more embodiments, the at least one parameter isvaried pseudo-randomly.

In one or more embodiments, the at least one parameter corresponds to alength of emission of the light source. In one or more embodiments, theplurality of light sources are configured to emit light in apredetermined pattern. In one or more embodiments, the one or moresensors is a photodiode. In one or more embodiments, the processordetermines a movement based at least in part on a known distance of theeye from the at least one sensors and the plurality of light sources.

In another aspect, a method for tracking eye movements in an augmentedreality display system comprises emitting one or more rays of lighttowards a user's eyes, detecting one or more characteristics pertainingto an interaction between the emitted light and the user's eyes, anddetermining, based at least in part on the one or more characteristics,a movement of the user's eyes.

In one or more embodiments, the characteristic pertains to lightreflected back from the eye. In one or more embodiments, thecharacteristic pertains to one or more reflections of objects from astructure of the user's eyes. In one or more embodiments, the methodfurther comprises varying at least one parameter of the emitted light.In one or more embodiments, the at least one parameter is variedpseudo-randomly.

In one or more embodiments, the at least one parameter corresponds to alength of emission of the light source. In one or more embodiments, thelight is emitted in a predetermined pattern. In one or more embodiments,the method further comprises correlating the detected characteristicswith a set of known characteristics to determine eye movement. In one ormore embodiments, the eye movement is determined based at least in parton a known distance of the eye from one or more sensors detecting acharacteristic of the interaction between the emitted light and theuser's eyes and a plurality of light sources emitting the light to theuser's eyes.

In yet another aspect, a method of displaying augmented realitycomprises identifying an object as a totem, determining at least onecharacteristic pertaining to an interaction of a user of an augmentedreality display system with the totem, and determining a user inputbased at least in part on the at least one characteristic pertaining tothe interaction of the user with the totem.

In one or more embodiments, the method further comprises storing acorrelation map, wherein the correlation map comprises a set ofpredetermined characteristics of the interaction with the totem and acorresponding set of user input commands, wherein the user input isdetermined based at least in part on the stored correlation map. In oneor more embodiments, the at least one characteristic pertains to amovement of the totem. In one or more embodiments, the at least onecharacteristic pertains to a direction of movement of the totem.

In one or more embodiments, the at least one characteristic pertains toa placement of the totem relative to the world. In one or moreembodiments, a predetermined reference frame is consulted to determinethe interaction of the user with the totem. In one or more embodiments,the predetermined reference frame comprises a head-centric referenceframe. In one or more embodiments, the predetermined reference framecomprises a hand-centric reference frame. In one or more embodiments,the predetermined reference frame is a body-centric-reference frame. Inone or more embodiments, the at least one characteristic pertains to amovement of the user relative to the totem.

In one or more embodiments, the method further comprises designating thereal object as the totem. In one or more embodiments, the method furthercomprises selecting a known pattern of interaction with the totem; andmapping the selected known pattern of interaction to a user inputcommand. In one or more embodiments, the mapping is based at least inpart on user input. In one or more embodiments, the method furthercomprises rendering a virtual user interface in relation to theidentified totem. In one or more embodiments, the predeterminedreference frame comprises a world-centric reference frame.

In yet another aspect, an augmented reality display system comprises oneor more sensors to identify a totem and to capture data pertaining to aninteraction of a user of the augmented reality display system with thetotem, and a processor to determine a user input based at least in parton the captured data pertaining to the interaction of the user with thetotem.

In one or more embodiments, the system further comprises a database tostore a correlation map, wherein the correlation map comprises a set ofpredetermined characteristics of the interaction with the totem and acorresponding set of user input commands, wherein the user input isdetermined based at least in part on the stored correlation map. In oneor more embodiments, the at least one characteristic pertains to amovement of the totem.

In one or more embodiments, the at least one characteristic pertains toa direction of movement of the totem. In one or more embodiments, the atleast one characteristic pertains to a placement of the totem relativeto the world. In one or more embodiments, the processor consults apredetermined reference frame is consulted to determine the interactionof the user with the totem. In one or more embodiments, thepredetermined reference frame comprises a head-centric reference frame.

In one or more embodiments, the predetermined reference frame comprisesa hand-centric reference frame. In one or more embodiments, thepredetermined reference frame is a body-centric reference frame. In oneor more embodiments, the predetermined reference frame is aworld-centric reference frame. In one or more embodiments, the captureddata pertains to a movement of the user relative to the totem.

In one or more embodiments, the real object is pre-designated as thetotem. In one or more embodiments, the method further comprises anoptical apparatus to render a virtual user interface in relation to theidentified totem. In one or more embodiments, the captured data pertainsto a number of interactions of the user with the totem. In one or moreembodiments, the totem is a real object. In one or more embodiments, thetotem is a virtual object.

In one or more embodiments, the one or more sensors comprisesimage-based sensors. In one or more embodiments, the one or more sensorscomprises a haptic sensor. In one or more embodiments, the one or moresensors comprises depth sensors. In one or more embodiments, thecaptured data pertains to a type of interaction with the totem. In oneor more embodiments, the captured data pertains to a duration ofinteraction with the totem.

In another aspect, an augmented reality display system comprises anoptical apparatus to project light associated with one or more virtualobjects to a user of a head-mounted augmented reality display system,wherein a perceived location of the one or more virtual objects isknown, and wherein the one or more virtual objects is associated with apredetermined sound data, and a processor having at least a sound moduleto dynamically alter one or more parameters of the predetermined sounddata based at least in part on the perceived location of the one or morevirtual objects in relation to the user, thereby producing a soundwavefront.

In one or more embodiments, the processor determines a head pose of theuser of the head-mounted augmented reality system, and wherein the oneor more parameters of the predetermined sound data is dynamicallyaltered based at least in part on the determined head pose of the user.In one or more embodiments, the system further comprises a sound designtool to dynamically alter the one or more parameters of thepredetermined sound data. In one or more embodiments, the system furthercomprises a spatial and proximity sound render to dynamically alter theone or more parameters of the predetermined sound data. In one or moreembodiments, the processor computes a head transfer function, andwherein the one or more parameters of the predetermined sound data aredynamically altered based at least in part on the computed head transferfunction.

In one or more embodiments, the system further comprises an additionalaudio object corresponding to another predetermined sound data, andwherein the processor dynamically alters one or more parameters of theother predetermined sound data based at least in part on a perceivedlocation of the additional audio object. In one or more embodiments, theadditional audio object triggers head movement of the user.

In yet another aspect, a method of displaying augmented realitycomprises determining a head pose of a user of a head-mounted augmentedreality display system, determining a perceived location of an audioobject in relation to the determined head pose of the user, wherein theaudio object corresponds to a predetermined sound data, and dynamicallyaltering one or more parameters of the predetermined sound data based atleast in part on the determined perceived location of the audio objectin relation to the determined head pose of the user.

In one or more embodiments, the audio object is associated with avirtual object. In one or more embodiments, the audio object isproximate to the virtual object. In one or more embodiments, the audioobject is at a distance from the virtual object. In one or moreembodiments, the one or more parameters pertains to a direction fromwhich the sound emanates.

In one or more embodiments, the one or more parameters pertains to anintensity of the sound. In one or more embodiments, the predeterminedsound data is equalized. In one or more embodiments, the one or moreparameters pertains to a quality of the sound. In one or moreembodiments, the method further comprises selecting another sound datato accompany the predetermined sound data based at least in part on thedetermined perceived location of the audio object in relation to thedetermined head pose of the user. In one or more embodiments, the methodfurther comprises using the audio object to trigger a head movement ofthe user.

In yet another aspect, a method for displaying augmented realitycomprises displaying a virtual object to a user of an augmented realitydisplay system, associating a navigation object to the virtual object,wherein a navigation object of the collection of navigation objects isconfigured to be responsive to one or more predetermined conditions, andmodifying at least one parameter of the virtual object in response tothe one or more predetermined conditions.

In one or more embodiments, the method further comprises maintaining acollection of navigation objects, wherein a plurality of navigationobjects of the collection of navigation objects are associated with thevirtual object. In one or more embodiments, the one or morepredetermined conditions comprises a presence of a structure. In one ormore embodiments, the one or more predetermined conditions comprises adetection of a light source or a source of light. In one or moreembodiments, the one or more predetermined conditions comprises adetection of a sound or a source of sound.

In one or more embodiments, the one or more predetermined conditionscomprises a source of food or water. In one or more embodiments, the oneor more predetermined conditions comprises a detected emotion. In one ormore embodiments, the at least one parameter pertains to a movement ofthe virtual object. In one or more embodiments, the at least oneparameter pertains to an animation of the virtual object.

In one or more embodiments, the method further comprises defining asensitivity level of the navigation object to the one or morepredetermined conditions. In one or more embodiments, the sensitivity isdefined based at least in part on user input. In one or moreembodiments, the method further comprises setting a boundary for thedefined sensitivity level. In one or more embodiments, the definedsensitivity is based at least in part on a function of a location inspace.

In one or more embodiments, the function comprises a gradient. In one ormore embodiments, the function comprises a linear function. In one ormore embodiments, the function comprises a step function. In one or moreembodiments, the function comprises an exponential function. In one ormore embodiments, the method further comprises defining a level ofresponse of the navigation object to the one or more predeterminedconditions.

In one or more embodiments, the level of response affects themodification of at least one parameter of the virtual object. In one ormore embodiments, the at least one parameter comprises a speed ofmovement of the virtual object. In one or more embodiments, the at leastone parameter comprises a direction of movement of the virtual object.

In one or more embodiments, the collection of navigation objects isre-used by other users of the augmented reality system. In one or moreembodiments, the association of the virtual object to the navigationobject comprises defining a coordinate frame of the navigation object inrelation to a coordinate frame of the virtual object. In one or moreembodiments, the method further comprises scaling the navigation objectin size. In one or more embodiments, the method further comprisesarranging a plurality of navigation objects as a ring around the virtualobject. In one or more embodiments, the method further comprisescombining an output of the plurality of navigation objects to generate acombined output.

In one or more embodiments, the one or more predetermined conditionspertains to time. In one or more embodiments, the navigation objectcorresponds to an emotion vector. In one or more embodiments, the methodfurther comprises assigning an emotional state to the navigation object.

Additional and other objects, features, and advantages of the inventionare described in the detail description, figures and claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The drawings illustrate the design and utility of various embodiments ofthe present invention. It should be noted that the figures are not drawnto scale and that elements of similar structures or functions arerepresented by like reference numerals throughout the figures. In orderto better appreciate how to obtain the above-recited and otheradvantages and objects of various embodiments of the invention, a moredetailed description of the present inventions briefly described abovewill be rendered by reference to specific embodiments thereof, which areillustrated in the accompanying drawings. Understanding that thesedrawings depict only typical embodiments of the invention and are nottherefore to be considered limiting of its scope, the invention will bedescribed and explained with additional specificity and detail throughthe use of the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates two users wearing individual augmented realitysystems and interacting in the real world.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example embodiment of an individual augmentedreality device that may be head-worn by a user.

FIG. 3 illustrates another example embodiment of an individual augmentedreality device that may be head worn by the user

FIG. 4 illustrates a top view of components of a simplified individualaugmented reality device.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example embodiment of the optics of the individualaugmented reality system.

FIG. 6 illustrates a system architecture of the individual augmentedreality system, according to one embodiment.

FIG. 7 illustrates a room based sensor system, according to oneembodiment.

FIG. 8 illustrates a communication architecture of the augmented realitysystem and the interaction of the augmented reality systems of manyusers with the cloud.

FIG. 9 illustrates a simplified view of the passable world model,according to one embodiment.

FIG. 10 illustrates an example method of rendering using the passableworld model, according to one embodiment.

FIG. 11 illustrates a high level flow diagram for a process ofrecognizing an object, according to one embodiment.

FIG. 12 illustrates a ring buffer approach employed by objectrecognizers to recognize objects in the passable world, according to oneembodiment.

FIG. 13 illustrates an example topological map, according to oneembodiment.

FIG. 14 illustrates a high level flow diagram for a process oflocalization using the topological map, according to one embodiment.

FIG. 15 illustrates a geometric map as a connection between variouskeyframes, according to one embodiment.

FIG. 16 illustrates an example embodiment of the topological map layeredon top of the geometric map, according to one embodiment.

FIG. 17 illustrates a high level flow diagram for a process ofperforming a wave propagation bundle adjust, according to oneembodiment.

FIG. 18 illustrates map points and render lines from the map points tothe keyframes as seen through a virtual keyframe, according to oneembodiment.

FIG. 19 illustrates a high level flow diagram for a process of findingmap points based on render rather than search, according to oneembodiment.

FIG. 20 illustrates a high level flow diagram for a process of renderinga virtual object based on a light map, according to one embodiment.

FIG. 21 illustrates a high level flow diagram for a process of creatinga light map, according to one embodiment.

FIG. 22 depicts a user-centric light map, according to one embodiment

FIG. 23 depicts an object-centric light map, according to oneembodiment.

FIG. 24 illustrates a high level flow diagram for a process oftransforming a light map, according to one embodiment.

FIG. 25 illustrates a variety of user inputs to communicate with theaugmented reality system, according to one embodiment.

FIG. 26 illustrates LED lights and diodes tracking a movement of theuser's eyes, according to one embodiment.

FIG. 27 illustrates a Purkinje image, according to one embodiment.

FIG. 28 illustrates a variety of hand gestures that may be used tocommunicate with the augmented reality system, according to oneembodiment.

FIG. 29 illustrates an example totem, according to one embodiment.

FIGS. 30A-300 illustrate other example totems, according to one or moreembodiments.

FIGS. 31A-31C illustrate other totems that may be used to communicatewith the augmented reality system.

FIGS. 32A-32D illustrates other example totems, according to one or moreembodiments.

FIGS. 33A-C illustrate example embodiments of ring and bracelet totems,according to one or more embodiments.

FIGS. 34A-34C illustrate more example totems, according to one or moreembodiments.

FIGS. 35A-35B illustrate a charms totem and a keychain totem, accordingto one or more embodiments.

FIG. 36 illustrates a high level flow diagram for a process ofdetermining user input through a totem, according to one embodiment.

FIG. 37 illustrates a high level flow diagram for a process of producinga sound wavefront, according to one embodiment.

FIG. 38 is a block diagram of components used to produce a soundwavefront, according to one embodiment.

FIG. 39 illustrates a library of autonomous navigation definitions orobjects, according to one embodiment.

FIG. 40 illustrates an interaction of various autonomous navigationobjects, according to one embodiment.

FIG. 41 illustrates a stack of autonomous navigation definitions orobjects, according to one embodiment.

FIGS. 42A-42B illustrate using the autonomous navigation definitions toidentify emotional states, according to one embodiment.

FIG. 43 illustrates a correlation threshold graph to be used to definean autonomous navigation definition or object, according to oneembodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Various embodiments of the invention are directed to methods, systems,and articles of manufacture for implementing multi-scenariophysically-aware design of an electronic circuit design in a singleembodiment or in some embodiments. Other objects, features, andadvantages of the invention are described in the detailed description,figures, and claims.

Various embodiments will now be described in detail with reference tothe drawings, which are provided as illustrative examples of theinvention so as to enable those skilled in the art to practice theinvention. Notably, the figures and the examples below are not meant tolimit the scope of the present invention. Where certain elements of thepresent invention may be partially or fully implemented using knowncomponents (or methods or processes), only those portions of such knowncomponents (or methods or processes) that are necessary for anunderstanding of the present invention will be described, and thedetailed descriptions of other portions of such known components (ormethods or processes) will be omitted so as not to obscure theinvention. Further, various embodiments encompass present and futureknown equivalents to the components referred to herein by way ofillustration.

In the following description, certain specific details are set forth inorder to provide a thorough understanding of various disclosedembodiments. However, one skilled in the relevant art will recognizethat embodiments may be practiced without one or more of these specificdetails, or with other methods, components, materials, etc. In otherinstances, well-known structures associated with virtual and augmentedreality systems have not been shown or described in detail to avoidunnecessarily obscuring descriptions of the embodiments.

Unless the context requires otherwise, throughout the specification andclaims which follow, the word “comprise” and variations thereof, suchas, “comprises” and “comprising” are to be construed in an open,inclusive sense that is as “including, but not limited to.”

Reference throughout this specification to “one embodiment” or “anembodiment” means that a particular feature, structure or characteristicdescribed in connection with the embodiment is included in at least oneembodiment. Thus, the appearances of the phrases “in one embodiment” or“in an embodiment” in various places throughout this specification arenot necessarily all referring to the same embodiment. Furthermore, theparticular features, structures, or characteristics may be combined inany suitable manner in one or more embodiments.

Overview of Augmented Reality System

As illustrated in FIGS. 1-4, an augmented reality system may include alight field generation subsystem operable to render virtual content(e.g., virtual objects, virtual tools, and other virtual constructs, forinstance applications, features, characters, text, digits, and othersymbols) in a field of view of a user. The augmented reality system mayoptionally also include an audio subsystem. As illustrated in FIG. 1,the light field generation subsystem (e.g., comprising both an opticalsub-system 100 and a processing sub-system 102) may include multipleinstances of personal augmented reality systems, for example arespective personal augmented reality system for each user.

FIG. 1 shows two users (150 a and 150 b) wearing personal augmentedreality systems (100 a, 102 a and 100 b, 102 b) and interacting withboth real objects and virtual objects. These instances of personalaugmented reality system (e.g., head-mounted augmented reality displaysystems, helmet-based augmented reality display systems, etc.) aresometimes referred to herein as individual augmented reality systems,devices or components. As shown in FIG. 1, the users' personal augmentedreality system may comprise both an optical sub-system (100 a, 100 b)that allows the user to view virtual content, and also a processingsub-system (102 a, 102 b) that may comprise other essential components(e.g., processing components, power components, memory, etc.). Moredetails on other components of the augmented reality system will beprovided further below.

It should be appreciated that the present application discusses variousembodiments of augmented reality (AR) systems and virtual realitysystems (VR) and/or a combination or AR and VR systems. Although thepresent application discusses various embodiments in the context of ARsystems for illustrative purposes, it should be appreciated that any orall of the following may be applied to VR systems or a combination of ARand VR systems, and no part of the disclosure should be read aslimiting.

FIGS. 2 and 3 illustrate example embodiments of form factors of ARsystems according to one or more embodiments. As shown in both FIGS. 2and 3, embodiments of the AR system may comprise optical components 100that deliver virtual content to the user's eyes as well as processingsub components 102 that perform a multitude of processing tasks topresent the relevant virtual content to the AR user 104.

Visual-Light Field Generation Subsystem

As illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 5, the light field generation subsystem(e.g. 400 and 402 respectively) is preferably operable to produce alight field. For example, an optical apparatus 460 or subsystem maygenerate or project light to simulate a four dimensional (4D) lightfield that would be produced by light reflecting from a realthree-dimensional object or scene. For instance, an optical apparatussuch as a wave guide reflector array projector (WRAP) apparatus 410 ormultiple depth plane three dimensional (3D) display system may generateor project multiple virtual depth planes at respective radial focaldistances to simulate a 4D light field.

The optical apparatus 460 in the form of a WRAP apparatus 410 ormultiple depth plane 3D display system may, for instance, project imagesinto each eye of a user, either directly or indirectly. When the numberand radial placement of the virtual depth planes is comparable to thedepth resolution of the human vision system as a function of radialdistance, a discrete set of projected depth planes mimics thepsycho-physical effect that is produced by a real, continuous, threedimensional object or scene. In one or more embodiments, the system 400may comprise a frame 470 that may be customized for each AR user.Additional components of the system 400 may include electronics 430 (aswill be discussed in further detail below) to connect various electricaland electronic subparts of the AR system to each other.

The system 400 may further comprise a microdisplay 420 that projectslight associated with one or more virtual images into the waveguideprism 410. As shown in FIG. 4, the light produced from the microdisplay420 travels within the waveguide 410, and some of light reaches theuser's eyes 490. In one or more embodiments, the system 400 may furthercomprise one or more compensation lenses 480 to alter the lightassociated with the virtual images. FIG. 5 illustrates the samecomponents as FIG. 4, but illustrates how light from the microdisplays420 travels through the waveguides 10 to reach the user's eyes 490.

It should be appreciated that the optical apparatus 460 may include anumber of linear wave guides, each with a respective series ofdeconstructed curved spherical reflectors or mirrors embedded, locatedor formed within each of the linear wave guides. The series ofdeconstructed curved spherical reflectors or mirrors are designed torefocus infinity-focused light at specific radial distances. A convexspherical mirror can be used to produce an output spherical wave torepresent a virtual point source which appears to be located at adefined distance behind the convex spherical mirror.

By concatenating in a linear or rectangular wave guide a series ofmicro-reflectors whose shapes (e.g., radii of curvature about two axes)and orientation together, it is possible to project a 3D image thatcorresponds to a spherical wave front produced by a virtual point sourceat a particular x, y, z coordinate. Each of the 2D wave guides or layersprovides an independent optical path relative to the other wave guides,and shapes the wave front and focuses incoming light to project avirtual depth plane that corresponds to a respective radial distance.

With a sufficient number of 2D wave guides, a user viewing the projectedvirtual depth planes experiences a 3D effect. Such a device is describedin U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/915,530 filed Jun. 11, 2013,which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety. Otherembodiments may comprise other combinations of optical systems, and itshould be appreciated that the embodiment(s) described in relation toFIGS. 4 and 5 are for illustrative purposes only.

As illustrated in FIG. 3, the audio subsystem 106 may take a variety offorms. For instance, the audio subsystem 106 may take the form of asimple two speaker 2 channel stereo system, or a more complex multiplespeaker system (5.1, 7.1, 12.1 channels). In some implementations, theaudio subsystem 106 may be operable to produce a three-dimensional soundfield.

The AR system 100 may include one or more distinct components. Forexample, the AR system 100 may include a head worn or mounted component,such as the one shown in the illustrated embodiment of FIGS. 3-5. Thehead worn or mounted component typically includes the visual system(e.g., such as the ones shown in FIGS. 4 and 5). The head worn componentmay also include audio transducers (e.g., speakers, microphones).

As illustrated in FIG. 2, the audio transducers may integrate with thevisual, for example each audio transducers supported from a common framewith the visual components. Alternatively, the audio transducers may bedistinct from the frame that carries the visual components. For example,the audio transducers may be part of a belt pack, such as the ones shownin FIGS. 1 (102 a, 102 b) and 2 (102).

As illustrated in FIGS. 1, 2 and 5, the augmented reality system 100 mayinclude a distinct computation component (e.g., the processingsub-system 102 as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2), separate from the head worncomponent (e.g., the optical sub-system 100 as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2).The processing sub-system or computation component 102 may, for example,take the form of the belt pack, which can be convenience coupled to abelt or belt line of pants during use. Alternatively, the computationcomponent 102 may, for example, take the form of a personal digitalassistant or smartphone type device.

The computation component 102 may include one or more processors, forexample, one or more micro-controllers, microprocessors, graphicalprocessing units, digital signal processors, application specificintegrated circuits (ASICs), programmable gate arrays, programmablelogic circuits, or other circuits either embodying logic or capable ofexecuting logic embodied in instructions encoded in software orfirmware. The computation component 102 may include one or morenontransitory computer- or processor-readable media, for examplevolatile and/or nonvolatile memory, for instance read only memory (ROM),random access memory (RAM), static RAM, dynamic RAM, Flash memory,EEPROM, etc.

The computation component 102 may be communicatively coupled to the headworn component. For example, computation component 102 may becommunicatively tethered to the head worn component via one or morewires or optical fibers via a cable with appropriate connectors. Thecomputation component 102 and the head worn component 100 maycommunicate according to any of a variety of tethered protocols, forexample UBS®, USB2®, USB3®, Ethernet®, Thunderbolt®, Lightning®protocols.

Alternatively or additionally, the computation component 102 may bewirelessly communicatively coupled to the head worn component. Forexample, the computation component 102 and the head worn component 100may each include a transmitter, receiver or transceiver (collectivelyradio) and associated antenna to establish wireless communications therebetween. The radio and antenna(s) may take a variety of forms. Forexample, the radio may be capable of short range communications, and mayemploy a communications protocol such as BLUETOOTH®, WI-FI®, or someIEEE 802.11 compliant protocol (e.g., IEEE 802.11n, IEEE 802.11a/c).

As illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 6, the body or head worn components mayinclude electronics and microdisplays, operable to deliver augmentedreality content to the user, for example augmented reality visual and/oraudio content. The electronics (e.g., part of 420 in FIGS. 4 and 5) mayinclude various circuits including electrical or electronic components.The various circuits are communicatively coupled to a number oftransducers that either deliver augmented reality content, and/or whichsense, measure or collect information about the ambient physicalenvironment and/or about a user.

FIG. 6 shows an example architecture 1000 for the electronics for anaugmented reality device, according to one illustrated embodiment.

The AR device may include one or more printed circuit board components,for instance left (602) and right (604) printed circuit board assemblies(PCBA). As illustrated, the left PCBA 602 includes most of the activeelectronics, while the right PCBA 604 supports principally supports thedisplay or projector elements.

The right PCBA 604 may include a number of projector driver structureswhich provide image information and control signals to image generationcomponents. For example, the right PCBA 604 may carry a first or leftprojector driver structure 606 and a second or right projector driverstructure 608. The first or left projector driver structure 606 joins afirst or left projector fiber 610 and a set of signal lines (e.g., piezodriver wires). The second or right projector driver structure 608 joinsa second or right projector fiber 612 and a set of signal lines (e.g.,piezo driver wires). The first or left projector driver structure 606 iscommunicatively coupled to a first or left image projector, while thesecond or right projector drive structure 608 is communicatively coupledto the second or right image projector.

In operation, the image projectors render virtual content to the leftand right eyes (e.g., retina) of the user via respective opticalcomponents, for instance waveguides and/or compensation lenses (e.g., asshown in FIGS. 4 and 5).

The image projectors may, for example, include left and right projectorassemblies. The projector assemblies may use a variety of differentimage forming or production technologies, for example, fiber scanprojectors, liquid crystal displays (LCD), LCOS displays, digital lightprocessing (DLP) displays. Where a fiber scan projector is employed,images may be delivered along an optical fiber, to be projectedtherefrom via a tip of the optical fiber. The tip may be oriented tofeed into the waveguide (FIGS. 4 and 5). An end of the optical fiberwith the tip from which images project may be supported to flex oroscillate. A number of piezoelectric actuators may control anoscillation (e.g., frequency, amplitude) of the tip. The projectordriver structures provide images to respective optical fiber and controlsignals to control the piezoelectric actuators, to project images to theuser's eyes.

Continuing with the right PCBA 604, a button board connector 614 mayprovide communicative and physical coupling to a button board 616 whichcarries various user accessible buttons, keys, switches or other inputdevices. The right PCBA 604 may include a right earphone or speakerconnector 618, to communicatively couple audio signals to a rightearphone 620 or speaker of the head worn component. The right PCBA 604may also include a right microphone connector 622 to communicativelycouple audio signals from a microphone of the head worn component. Theright PCBA 604 may further include a right occlusion driver connector624 to communicatively couple occlusion information to a right occlusiondisplay 626 of the head worn component. The right PCBA 604 may alsoinclude a board-to-board connector to provide communications with theleft PCBA 602 via a board-to-board connector 634 thereof.

The right PCBA 604 may be communicatively coupled to one or more rightoutward facing or world view cameras 628 which are body or head worn,and optionally a right cameras visual indicator (e.g., LED) whichilluminates to indicate to others when images are being captured. Theright PCBA 604 may be communicatively coupled to one or more right eyecameras 632, carried by the head worn component, positioned andorientated to capture images of the right eye to allow tracking,detection, or monitoring of orientation and/or movement of the righteye. The right PCBA 604 may optionally be communicatively coupled to oneor more right eye illuminating sources 630 (e.g., LEDs), which asexplained herein, illuminates the right eye with a pattern (e.g.,temporal, spatial) of illumination to facilitate tracking, detection ormonitoring of orientation and/or movement of the right eye.

The left PCBA 602 may include a control subsystem, which may include oneor more controllers (e.g., microcontroller, microprocessor, digitalsignal processor, graphical processing unit, central processing unit,application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), field programmable gatearray (FPGA) 640, and/or programmable logic unit (PLU)). The controlsystem may include one or more non-transitory computer- or processorreadable medium that stores executable logic or instructions and/or dataor information. The non-transitory computer- or processor readablemedium may take a variety of forms, for example volatile and nonvolatileforms, for instance read only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM,DRAM, SD-RAM), flash memory, etc. The non-transitory computer orprocessor readable medium may be formed as one or more registers, forexample of a microprocessor, FPGA or ASIC.

The left PCBA 602 may include a left earphone or speaker connector 636,to communicatively couple audio signals to a left earphone or speaker638 of the head worn component. The left PCBA 602 may include an audiosignal amplifier (e.g., stereo amplifier) 642, which is communicativecoupled to the drive earphones or speakers The left PCBA 602 may alsoinclude a left microphone connector 644 to communicatively couple audiosignals from a microphone of the head worn component. The left PCBA 602may further include a left occlusion driver connector 646 tocommunicatively couple occlusion information to a left occlusion display648 of the head worn component.

The left PCBA 602 may also include one or more sensors or transducerswhich detect, measure, capture or otherwise sense information about anambient environment and/or about the user. For example, an accelerationtransducer 650 (e.g., three axis accelerometer) may detect accelerationin three axis, thereby detecting movement. A gyroscopic sensor 652 maydetect orientation and/or magnetic or compass heading or orientation.Other sensors or transducers may be similarly employed.

The left PCBA 602 may be communicatively coupled to one or more leftoutward facing or world view cameras 654 which are body or head worn,and optionally a left cameras visual indicator (e.g., LED) 656 whichilluminates to indicate to others when images are being captured. Theleft PCBA may be communicatively coupled to one or more left eye cameras658, carried by the head worn component, positioned and orientated tocapture images of the left eye to allow tracking, detection, ormonitoring of orientation and/or movement of the left eye. The left PCBA602 may optionally be communicatively coupled to one or more left eyeilluminating sources (e.g., LEDs) 656, which as explained herein,illuminates the left eye with a pattern (e.g., temporal, spatial) ofillumination to facilitate tracking, detection or monitoring oforientation and/or movement of the left eye.

The PCBAs 602 and 604 are communicatively coupled with the distinctcomputation component (e.g., belt pack) via one or more ports,connectors and/or paths. For example, the left PCBA 602 may include oneor more communications ports or connectors to provide communications(e.g., bi-directional communications) with the belt pack. The one ormore communications ports or connectors may also provide power from thebelt pack to the left PCBA 602. The left PCBA 602 may include powerconditioning circuitry 680 (e.g., DC/DC power converter, input filter),electrically coupled to the communications port or connector andoperable to condition (e.g., step up voltage, step down voltage, smoothcurrent, reduce transients).

The communications port or connector may, for example, take the form ofa data and power connector or transceiver 682 (e.g., Thunderbolt® port,USB® port). The right PCBA 604 may include a port or connector toreceive power from the belt pack. The image generation elements mayreceive power from a portable power source (e.g., chemical batterycells, primary or secondary battery cells, ultra-capacitor cells, fuelcells), which may, for example be located in the belt pack.

As illustrated, the left PCBA 602 includes most of the activeelectronics, while the right PCBA 604 supports principally supports thedisplay or projectors, and the associated piezo drive signals.Electrical and/or fiber optic connections are employed across a front,rear or top of the body or head worn component of the AR system.

Both PCBAs 602 and 604 are communicatively (e.g., electrically,optically) coupled to the belt pack. The left PCBA 602 includes thepower subsystem and a high speed communications subsystem. The rightPCBA 604 handles the fiber display piezo drive signals. In theillustrated embodiment, only the right PCBA 604 needs to be opticallyconnected to the belt pack. In other embodiments, both the right PCBAand the left PCBA may be connected to the belt pack.

While illustrated as employing two PCBAs 602 and 604, the electronics ofthe body or head worn component may employ other architectures. Forexample, some implementations may use a fewer or greater number ofPCBAs. Also for example, various components or subsystems may bearranged differently than illustrated in FIG. 6. For example, in somealternative embodiments some of the components illustrated in FIG. 6 asresiding on one PCBA may be located on the other PCBA, without loss ofgenerality.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, each user may use his/her own respective ARsystem (generally referred to as individual AR systems in the discussionbelow). In some implementations, the individual augmented realitysystems may communicate with one another. For example, two or moreproximately located AR systems may communicate with one another. Asdescribed further herein, communications may occur after performance ofa handshaking protocol, in one or more embodiments. The AR systems maycommunicate wirelessly via one or more radios. As discussed above, suchradios may be capable of short range direct communications, or may becapable of longer range direct communications (e.g., without a repeater,extender, etc.). Additionally or alternatively, indirect longer rangecommunications may be achieved via one or more intermediary devices(e.g., wireless access points, repeaters, extenders).

The head worn component 100 of the AR system may have one or more“outward” facing cameras (e.g., 628, 654). In one or more embodiments,the head worn component may have one or more “inward” facing cameras. Asused herein, “outward facing” means that the camera captures images ofthe ambient environment rather than the user who is wearing the headworn component. Notably, the “outward” facing camera could have a fieldof view that encompass areas to the front, the left, the right or evenbehind the user. This contrasts with an inward facing camera whichcaptures images of the individual who is wearing the head worncomponent, for instance a camera that faces the user's face to capturefacial expression or eye movements of the user.

User Worn Input Sensors

In many implementations, the personal (or individual) AR system(s) wornby the user(s) may include one or more sensors, transducers, or othercomponents. The sensors, transducers, or other components may becategorized into two general categories, i) those that detect aspects ofthe user who wears the sensor(s) (e.g., denominated herein as inwardfacing sensors), and ii) those that detect conditions in the ambientenvironment in which the user is located (e.g., denominated herein asoutward facing sensors). These sensors may take a large variety offorms. For example, the sensor(s) may include one or more image sensors,for instance digital still or moving image cameras. Also for example,the sensor(s) may include one or more audio sensors or microphones.Other sensors may detect position, movement, temperature, heart rate,perspiration, etc.

As noted above, in one or more embodiments, sensors may be inwardfacing. For example, image sensors worn by a user may be positionedand/or oriented to detect eye movement of the user, facial expressionsof the user, or limb (arms, legs, hands) of the user. For example, audiosensors or microphones worn by a user may be positioned and/or orientedto detect utterances made by the user. Such audio sensors or microphonesmay be directional and may be located proximate a mouth of the userduring use.

As noted above, sensors may be outward facing. For example, imagesensors worn by a user may be positioned and/or oriented to visuallydetect the ambient environment in which the user is located and/orobjects with which the user is interacting. In one or more embodiments,image-based sensors may refer to cameras (e.g., field-of-view cameras,IR cameras, eye tracking cameras, etc.) Also for example, audio sensorsor microphones worn by a user may be positioned and/or oriented todetect sounds in the ambient environment, whether from natural sourceslike other people, or generated from inanimate objects such as audiospeakers. The outward facing sensors may detect other characteristics ofthe ambient environment. For example, outward facing sensors may includea temperature sensor or thermocouple that detects a temperature in theambient environment.

Outward facing sensors may detect humidity, air quality, and/or air flowin the ambient environment. Outward facing sensors may include lightdetector (e.g., photodiodes) to detect an ambient light condition in theambient environment. In one or more embodiments, light probes may alsobe used as part of the individual AR systems. Outward facing sensors mayinclude one or more sensors that detect a presence and/or absence of anobject, including other people, in the ambient environment and/ormovement in the ambient environment.

Physical Space/Room Based Sensor System

As illustrated in the system architecture 700 of FIG. 7, in someimplementations the augmented reality system may include physical spaceor room based sensor systems. As illustrated in FIG. 7, the augmentedreality system 702 not only draws from users' individual AR systems(e.g., head-mounted augmented reality display system, etc.) as shown inFIGS. 1-5, but also may use room-based sensor systems 704 to collectinformation about rooms and physical spaces. The space or room basedsensor systems 704 detect and/or collect information from a physicalenvironment, for example a space such as a room (e.g., an office, livingroom, media room, kitchen or other physical space). The space or roombased sensor system(s) 704 typically includes one or more image sensors706, for instance one or more cameras (e.g., digital still cameras,digital moving image or video cameras). The image sensor(s) may be inaddition to image sensors which form part of the personal augmentedreality system(s) worn by the user(s), in one or more embodiments. Thespace or room based sensor systems may also include one or more audiosensors or transducers 708, for example omni-directional or directionalmicrophones. The audio sensors or transducers may detect sound fromanimate objects (e.g., one or more users or other people in the ambientenvironment. The audio sensors or transducers may detect sound frominanimate objects, for example footsteps, televisions, stereo systems,radios, or other appliances.

The space or room based sensor systems may also include otherenvironmental sensors 710, temperature 712, humidity 714, air quality716, air flow or velocity, ambient light sensing, presence absence,movement, etc., in the ambient environment. All these inputs feed backto the augmented reality system 702, as shown in FIG. 7. It should beappreciated that only some of the room-based sensors are shown in FIG.7, and some embodiments may comprise fewer or greater sensorsub-systems, and the embodiment of FIG. 7 should not be seen aslimiting.

The space or room based sensor system(s) 704 may detect and/or collectinformation in with respect to a space or room based coordinate system.For example, visual or optical information and/or audio information maybe referenced with respect to a location or source of such informationwithin a reference frame that is different from a reference frame of theuser. For example, the location of the source of such information may beidentified within a reference frame of the space or room based sensorsystem or component thereof. The reference frame of the space or roombased sensor system or component may be relatively fixed, and may beidentical to a reference frame of the physical space itself.Alternatively, one or more transformations (e.g., translation and/orrotation matrices) may mathematically relate the reference frame of thespace or room based sensor system or component with the reference frameof the physical space.

Cloud Servers

FIG. 8 illustrates a communications architecture which employs one ormore hub, central, or distributed, server computer systems and one ormore individual augmented reality systems communicatively coupled by oneor more wired or wireless networks, according to one illustratedembodiment. In one or more embodiments, a cloud server may refer to aserver that is accessed by the one or more individual AR systems througha network (e.g., wired network, wireless network, Bluetooth, cellularnetwork, etc.) In the illustrated embodiment, the individual AR systemscommunicate with the cloud servers or server computer systems 280through a network 204. In one or more embodiments, a cloud server mayrefer to a hosted server or processing system that is hosting at adifferent location, and is accessed by multiple users on demand throughthe Internet or some type of network. In one or more embodiments, acloud server may be a set of multiple connected servers that comprise acloud.

The server computer systems 280 may, for example, be clustered. Forinstance, clusters of server computer systems may be located at variousgeographically dispersed locations. Such may facilitate communications,shortening transit paths and/or provide for redundancy.

Specific instances of personal augmented reality systems 208 may becommunicatively coupled to the server computer system(s) 280 through acloud network 204. The server computer system(s) 280 may maintaininformation about a specific user's own physical and/or virtual worlds.The server computer system(s) 280 may allow a given user to shareinformation about the specific user's own physical and/or virtual worldswith other users. Additionally or alternatively, the server computersystem(s) 280 may allow other users to share information about their ownphysical and/or virtual worlds with the given or specific user. Asdescribed herein, server computer system(s) 280 may allow mapping and/orcharacterizations of large portions of the physical worlds. Informationmay be collected via the personal augmented reality system of one ormore users. The models of the physical world may be developed over time,and by collection via a large number of users. This may allow a givenuser to enter a new portion or location of the physical world, yetbenefit by information collected by others who either previously or arecurrently in the particular location. Models of virtual worlds may becreated over time via user by a respective user.

The individual AR system(s) 208 may be communicatively coupled to theserver computer system(s). For example, the personal augmented realitysystem(s) 208 may be wirelessly communicatively coupled to the servercomputer system(s) 280 via one or more radios. The radios may take theform of short range radios, as discussed above, or relatively long rangeradios, for example cellular chip sets and antennas. The individual ARsystem(s) 208 will typically be communicatively coupled to the servercomputer system(s) 280 indirectly, via some intermediary communicationsnetwork or component. For instance, the individual AR system(s) 208 willtypically be communicatively coupled to the server computer system(s)280 via one or more telecommunications provider systems, for example oneor more cellular communications provider networks.

Other Components

In many implementations, the AR system may include additionalcomponents.

In one or more embodiments, the AR devices may, for example, include oneor more haptic devices or components. The haptic device(s) orcomponent(s) may be operable to provide a tactile sensation to a user.For example, the haptic device(s) or component(s) may provide a tactilesensation of pressure and/or texture when touching virtual content(e.g., virtual objects, virtual tools, other virtual constructs). Thetactile sensation may replicate a feel of a physical object which avirtual object represents, or may replicate a feel of an imagined objector character (e.g., a dragon) which the virtual content represents.

In some implementations, haptic devices or components may be worn by theuser. An example of a haptic device in the form of a user wearable gloveis described herein. In some implementations, haptic devices orcomponents may be held the user. An example of a haptic device in theform of a user wearable glove (e.g., FIG. 34A) is described herein.Other examples of haptic devices in the form of various haptic totemsare described further below. The augmented reality system mayadditionally or alternatively employ other types of haptic devices oruser input components.

The AR system may, for example, include one or more physical objectswhich are manipulable by the user to allow input or interaction with theAR system. These physical objects are referred to herein as totems, andwill be described in further detail below. Some totems may take the formof inanimate objects, for example a piece of metal or plastic, a wall, asurface of table. Alternatively, some totems may take the form ofanimate objects, for example a hand of the user.

As described herein, the totems may not actually have any physical inputstructures (e.g., keys, triggers, joystick, trackball, rocker switch).Instead, the totem may simply provide a physical surface, and the ARsystem may render a user interface so as to appear to a user to be onone or more surfaces of the totem. For example, and as discussed in moredetail further herein, the AR system may render an image of a computerkeyboard and trackpad to appear to reside on one or more surfaces of atotem. For instance, the AR system may render a virtual computerkeyboard and virtual trackpad to appear on a surface of a thinrectangular plate of aluminum which serves as a totem. The rectangularplate does not itself have any physical keys or trackpad or sensors.However, the AR system may detect user manipulation or interaction ortouches with the rectangular plate as selections or inputs made via thevirtual keyboard and/or virtual trackpad. Many of these components aredescribed in detail further below.

Passable World

The passable world model allows a user to effectively pass over a pieceof the user's world (e.g., ambient surroundings, interactions, etc.) toanother user. Each user's respective individual AR system capturesinformation as the user passes through or inhabits an environment, whichthe AR system processes to produce a passable world model.

The individual AR system may communicate or pass the passable worldmodel to a common or shared collection of data at the cloud. Theindividual AR system may communicate or pass the passable world model toother users of the AR system, either directly or via the cloud. Thepassable world model provides the ability to efficiently communicate orpass information that essentially encompasses at least a field of viewof a user. Of course, it should be appreciated that other inputs (e.g.,sensory inputs, image inputs, eye-tracking inputs etc.) may additionallybe transmitted to augment the passable world model at the cloud.

FIG. 9 illustrates the components of a passable world model 900according to one illustrated embodiment. As a user 2001 walks through anenvironment, the user's individual AR system 2010 captures information(e.g., images, location information, position and orientationinformation, etc.) and saves the information through posed taggedimages. In the illustrated embodiment, an image may be taken of theobject 2020 (which resembles a table) and map points 2004 may becollected based on the captured image. This forms the core of thepassable world model, as shown by multiple keyframes (e.g., cameras)2002 that have captured information about the environment.

As shown in FIG. 9, there may be multiple keyframes 2002 that captureinformation about a space at any given point in time. For example, akeyframe may be another user's AR system capturing information from aparticular point of view. Another keyframe may be a room-basedcamera/sensor system that is capturing images and points 2004 through astationary point of view. By triangulating images and points frommultiple points of view, the position and orientation of real objects ina 3D space may be determined.

In one or more embodiments, the passable world model 2008 is acombination of raster imagery, point and descriptors clouds, andpolygonal/geometric definitions (referred to herein as parametricgeometry). All this information is uploaded to and retrieved from thecloud, a section of which corresponds to a particular space that theuser may have walked into. As shown in FIG. 9, the passable world modelalso contains many object recognizers 2012 that work on the cloud or onthe user's individual system 2010 to recognize objects in theenvironment based on points and pose-tagged images captured through thevarious keyframes of multiple users. Essentially by continuallycapturing information about the physical world through multiplekeyframes 2002, the passable world is always growing, and may beconsulted (continuously or as needed) in order to determine how torender virtual content in relation to existing physical objects of thereal world. By collecting information from the user's environment, apiece of the passable world 2006 is constructed/augmented, and may be“passed” along to one or more AR users simultaneously or in the future.

Asynchronous communications is established between the user's respectiveindividual AR system and the cloud based computers (e.g., servercomputers). In other words, the user's individual AR system isconstantly updating information about the user's surroundings to thecloud, and also receiving information from the cloud about the passableworld. Thus, rather than each AR user having to capture images andrecognize objects based on the captured images, having an asynchronoussystem allows the system to be more efficient. Information that alreadyexists about that part of the world is automatically communicated to theindividual AR system while new information is updated to the cloud. Itshould be appreciated that the passable world model lives both on thecloud or other form of networking computing or peer to peer system, andalso may live on the user's individual AR system.

In one or more embodiments, the AR system may employ different levels ofresolutions for the local components (e.g., computational component 102such as the belt pack) and remote components (e.g., cloud basedcomputers 280). This is because the remote components (e.g., resourcesthat reside on the cloud servers) are typically more computationallypowerful than local components. The cloud based computers may pick datacollected by the many different individual AR systems, and/or one ormore space or room based sensor systems, and utilize this information toadd on to the passable world model. The cloud based computers mayaggregate only the best (e.g., most useful) information into apersistent world model. In other words, redundant information and/orless-than-optimal quality information may be timely disposed so as notto deteriorate the quality and/or performance of the system.

FIG. 10 illustrates an example method 2100 of interacting with thepassable world model. At 2102, the user's individual AR system maydetect a location and orientation of the user within the world. In oneor more embodiments, the location may be derived by a topological map ofthe system, as will be described in further detail below. In otherembodiments, the location may be derived by GPS or any otherlocalization tool. It should be appreciated that the passable world maybe constantly accessed by the individual AR system.

In another embodiment (not shown), the user may request access toanother user's space, prompting the system to access that section of thepassable world, and associated parametric information corresponding tothe other user. Thus, there may be many triggers for the passable world.At the simplest level, however, it should be appreciated that thepassable world is constantly being updated and accessed by multiple usersystems, thereby constantly adding and receiving information from thecloud.

Following the above example, based on the known location of the user, at2104, the system may draw a radius denoting a physical area around theuser that communicates both the position and intended direction of theuser. Next, at 2106, the system may retrieve a piece of the passableworld based on the anticipated position of the user. In one or moreembodiments, the piece of the passable world may contain informationfrom the geometric map of the space acquired through previous keyframesand captured images and data stored in the cloud. At 2108, the AR systemuploads information from the user's environment into the passable worldmodel. At 2110, based on the uploaded information, the AR system rendersthe passable world associated with the position of the user to theuser's individual AR system.

This information enables virtual content to meaningfully interact withthe user's real surroundings in a coherent manner. For example, avirtual “monster” may be rendered to be originating from a particularbuilding of the real world. Or, in another example, a user may leave avirtual object in relation to physical coordinates of the real worldsuch that a friend (also wearing the AR system) finds the virtual objectin the same physical coordinates. In order to enable such capabilities(and many more), it is important for the AR system to constantly accessthe passable world to retrieve and upload information. It should beappreciated that the passable world contains persistent digitalrepresentations of real spaces that is crucially utilized in renderingvirtual and/or digital content in relation to real coordinates of aphysical space. It should be appreciated that the AR system may maintaincoordinates of the real world and/or virtual world. In some embodiments,a third party may maintain the map (e.g., coordinates) of the realworld, and the AR system may consult the map to determine one or moreparameters in order to render virtual content in relation to realobjects of the world.

It should be appreciated that the passable world model does not itselfrender content that is displayed to the user. Rather it is a high levelconcept of dynamically retrieving and updating a persistent digitalrepresentation of the real world in the cloud. In one or moreembodiments, the derived geometric information is loaded onto a gameengine, which then renders content associated with the passable world.Thus, regardless of whether the user is in a particular space or not,that particular space has a digital representation in the cloud that canbe accessed by any user. This piece of the passable world may containinformation about the physical geometry of the space and imagery of thespace, information about various avatars that are occupying the space,information about virtual objects and other miscellaneous information.

As described in detail further herein, one or more object recognizersmay examine or “crawl” the passable world models, tagging points thatbelong to parametric geometry. Parametric geometry, points anddescriptors may be packaged into passable world models, to allow lowlatency passing or communicating of information corresponding to aportion of a physical world or environment. In one or more embodiments,the AR system can implement a two tier structure, in which the passableworld model allow fast pose processing in a first tier, but then insidethat framework is a second tier (e.g., FAST features). In one or moreembodiments, the second tier structure can increase resolution byperforming a frame-to-frame based three-dimensional (3D) featuremapping.

FIG. 11 illustrates an example method 2200 of recognizing objectsthrough object recognizers. At 2202, when a user walks into a room, theuser's individual AR system captures information (e.g., images, sensorinformation, pose tagged images, etc.) about the user's surroundingsfrom multiple points of view. At 2204, a set of 3D points may beextracted from the one or more captured images. For example, by the timethe user walks into a section of a room, the user's individual AR systemhas already captured numerous keyframes and pose tagged images about thesurroundings (similar to the embodiment shown in FIG. 9). It should beappreciated that in one or more embodiments, each keyframe may includeinformation about the depth and color of the objects in thesurroundings.

In one or more embodiments, the object recognizers (either locally or inthe cloud) may use image segmentation techniques to find one or moreobjects. It should be appreciated that different objects may berecognized by their own object recognizers that have been written bydevelopers and programmed to recognize that particular object. Forillustrative purposes, the following example, will assume that theobject recognizer recognizes doors. The object recognizer may be anautonomous and/or atomic software object or “robot” that utilizes thepose tagged images of the space, including key frames and 2D and 3Dfeature points taken from multiple keyframes, and uses this information,and geometry of the space to recognize one or more objects (e.g., thedoor)

It should be appreciated that multiple object recognizers may runsimultaneously on a set of data, and multiple object recognizers may runindependent of each other. It should be appreciated that the objectrecognizer takes 2D images of the object (2D color information, etc.),3D images (depth information) and also takes 3D sparse points torecognize the object in a geometric coordinate frame of the world.

Next, at 2206, the object recognizer(s) may correlate the 2D segmentedimage features with the sparse 3D points to derive object structures andone or more properties about the object using 2D/3D data fusion. Forexample, the object recognizer may identify specific geometry of thedoor with respect to the keyframes. Next, at 2208, the object recognizerparameterizes the geometry of the object. For example, the objectrecognizer may attach semantic information to the geometric primitive(e.g., the door has a hinge, the door can rotate 90 degrees, etc.) ofthe object. Or, the object recognizer may reduce the size of the door,to match the rest of the objects in the surroundings, etc.

At 2210, the AR system may synchronize the parametric geometry of theobjects to the cloud. Next, at 2212, the object recognizer may re-insertthe geometric and parametric information into the passable world model.For example, the object recognizer may dynamically estimate the angle ofthe door, and insert it into the world. Thus, it can be appreciated thatusing the object recognizer allows the system to save computationalpower because, rather than constantly requiring real-time capture ofinformation about the angle of the door or movement of the door, theobject recognizer uses the stored parametric information to estimate themovement or angle of the door. This allows the system to functionindependently based on computational capabilities of the individual ARsystem without necessarily relying on information in the cloud servers.It should be appreciated that this information may be updated to thecloud, and transmitted to other AR systems such that virtual content maybe appropriately displayed in relation to the recognized door.

As briefly discussed above, object recognizers are atomic autonomoussoftware and/or hardware modules which ingest sparse points (e.g., notnecessarily a dense point cloud), pose-tagged images, and geometry, andproduce parametric geometry that has semantics attached. The semanticsmay take the form of taxonomical descriptors, for example “wall,”“chair,” “Aeron® chair,” and properties or characteristics associatedwith the taxonomical descriptor. For example, a taxonomical descriptorsuch as a table may have associated descriptions such as “has a flathorizontal surface which can support other objects.” Given an ontology,an object recognizer turns images, points, and optionally othergeometry, into geometry that has meaning (e.g., semantics).

Since the individual AR systems are intended to operate in the realworld environment, the points represent sparse, statistically relevant,natural features. Natural features are those that are inherent to theobject (e.g., edges, holes), in contrast to artificial features added(e.g., printed, inscribed or labeled) to objects for the purpose ofmachine-vision recognition. The points do not necessarily need to bevisible to humans. It should be appreciated that the points are notlimited to point features, e.g., line features and high dimensionalfeatures.

In one or more embodiments, object recognizers may be categorized intotwo types, Type 1—Basic Objects (e.g., walls, cups, chairs) and Type2—Detailed Objects (e.g., Aeron® chair, my wall, etc.). In someimplementations, the Type 1 recognizers run across the entire cloud,whereas the Type 2 recognizers run against previously found Type 1 data(e.g., search all chairs for Aeron® chairs). In one or more embodiments,the object recognizers may use inherent properties of an object tofacilitate object identification. Or, in other embodiments, the objectrecognizers may use ontological relationships between objects in orderto facilitate implementation. For example, an object recognizer may usethe fact that window must be “in” a wall to facilitate recognition ofinstances of windows.

In one or more embodiments, object recognizers may be bundled, partneredor logically associated with one or more applications. For example, a“cup finder” object recognizer may be associated with one, two or moreapplications in which identifying a presence of a cup in a physicalspace would be useful. For example, a coffee company may create its own“cup finder” application that allows for the recognition of cupsprovided by the coffee company. This may enable delivery of virtualcontent/advertisements, etc. related to the coffee company, and maydirectly and/or indirectly encourage participation or interest in thecoffee company.

Applications can be logically connected for associated with definedrecognizable visual data or models. For example, in response to adetection of any Aeron® chairs in an image, the AR system calls orexecutes an application from the Herman Miller Company, the manufacturerand/or seller of Aeron® chairs. Similarly, in response to detection of aStarbucks® signs or logo in an image, the AR system calls or executes aStarbucks® application.

In yet another example, the AR system may employ an instance of ageneric wall finder object recognizer. The generic wall finder objectrecognizer identifies instances of walls in image information, withoutregard to specifics about a wall. Thus, the generic wall finder objectrecognizer may identify vertically oriented surfaces that constitutewalls in the image data. The AR system may also employ an instance of aspecific wall finder object recognizer, which is separate and distinctfrom the generic wall finder.

The specific wall finder object recognizer identifies verticallyoriented surfaces that constitute walls in the image data and which haveone or more specific characteristics beyond those of generic wall. Forexample, a given specific wall may have one or more windows in definedpositions, one or more doors in defined positions, may have a definedpaint color, may have artwork hung from the wall, etc., which visuallydistinguishes the specific wall from other walls. Such features allowsthe specific wall finder object recognizer to identify particular walls.For example, one instance of a specific wall finder object recognizermay identify a wall of a user's office. Other instances of specific wallfinder object recognizers may identify respective walls of a user'sliving room or bedroom.

A specific object recognizer may stand independently from a genericobject recognizer. For example, a specific wall finder object recognizermay run completely independently from a generic wall finder objectrecognizer, not employing any information produced by the generic wallfinder object recognizer. Alternatively, a specific (e.g., more refined)object recognizer may be run nested against objects previously found bya more generic object recognizer. For example, a generic and/or aspecific door finder object recognizer may run against a wall found by ageneric and/or specific wall finder object recognizer, since a door mustbe in a wall. Likewise, a generic and/or a specific window finder objectrecognizer may run against a wall found by a generic and/or specificwall finder object recognizer, since a window must be “in” a wall.

In one or more embodiments, an object recognizer may not only identifythe existence or presence of an object, but may also identify othercharacteristics associated with the object. For example, a generic orspecific door finder object recognizer may identify a type of door,whether the door is hinged or sliding, where the hinge or slide islocated, whether the door is currently in an open or a closed position,and/or whether the door is transparent or opaque, etc.

As noted above, each object recognizer is atomic, that is the objectrecognizer is autonomic, autonomous, asynchronous, and essentially ablack box software object. This allows object recognizers to becommunity-built. Developers may be incentivized to build objectrecognizers. For example, an online marketplace or collection point forobject recognizers may be established. Object recognizer developers maybe allowed to post object recognizers for linking or associating withapplications developed by other object recognizer or applicationdevelopers.

Various other incentives may be similarly provided. Also for example, anincentive may be provided to an object recognizer developer or authorbased on the number of times an object recognizer is logicallyassociated with an application and/or based on the total number ofdistributions of an application to which the object recognizer islogically associated. As a further example, an incentive may be providedto an object recognizer developer or author based on the number of timesan object recognizer is used by applications that are logicallyassociated with the object recognizer. The incentives may be monetaryincentives, in one or more embodiments. In other embodiments, theincentive may comprise providing access to services or media behind apay-wall, and/or providing credits for acquiring services, media, orgoods.

It would, for example, be possible to instantiate any number of distinctgeneric and/or specific object recognizers. Some embodiments may requirea very large number of generic and specific object recognizers. Thesegeneric and/or specific object recognizers can all be run against thesame data. As noted above, some object recognizers can be nested suchthat they are essentially layered on top of each other.

In one or more embodiments, a control program may control the selection,use or operation of the various object recognizers, for examplearbitrating the use or operation thereof. Some object recognizers may beplaced in different regions, to ensure that the object recognizers donot overlap each other. As discussed above, the object recognizers mayrun locally at the individual AR system's belt back, or may be run onone or more cloud servers.

Ring Buffer of Object Recognizers

FIG. 12 shows a ring buffer 1200 of object recognizers, according to oneillustrated embodiment. The AR system may organize the objectrecognizers in a ring topology, for example to achieve low disk-readutilization. The various object recognizers may sit on or along thering, all running in parallel. Passable world model data (e.g., walls,ceiling, floor) may be run through the ring, in one or more embodiments.As the data rolls by, each object recognizer collects that data relevantto the object which the object recognizer recognizes. Some objectrecognizers may need to collect large amounts of data, while others mayonly need to collect small amounts of data. The respective objectrecognizers collect whatever data they require, and return results inthe same manner described above.

In the illustrated embodiment, the passable world data 1216 runs throughthe ring. Starting clockwise, a generic wall object recognizer 1202 mayfirst be run on the passable world data 1216. The generic wall objectrecognizer 1202 may recognize an instance of a wall 1218. Next, aspecific wall object recognizer 1204 may run on the passable world data1216. Similarly, a table object recognizer 1206, and a generic chairobject recognizer 1208 may be run on the passable world data 1216.

Specific object recognizers may also be run on the data, such as thespecific Aeron® object recognizer 1210 that successfully recognizes aninstance of the Aeron chair 1220. In one or more embodiments, bigger, ormore generic object recognizers may go through the data first, andsmaller, and finer-detail recognizers may run through the data after thebigger ones are done. Going through the ring, a cup object recognizer1212 and a fork object recognizer 1214 may be run on the passable worlddata 1216.

Avatars in the Passable World

As an extension of the passable world model, not only objects arerecognized, but other users/people of the real world may be recognizedand may be rendered as virtual objects. For example, as discussed above,a friend of a first user may be rendered as an avatar at the AR systemof the first user.

In some implementations, in order to render an avatar that properlymimics the user, the user may train the AR system, for example by movingthrough a desired or prescribed set of movements. In response, the ARsystem may generate an avatar sequence in which an avatar replicates themovements, for example, by animating the avatar. Thus, the AR systemcaptures or receives images of a user, and generates animations of anavatar based on movements of the user in the captured images. The usermay be instrumented, for example, by wearing one or more sensors. In oneor more embodiments, the AR system knows where the pose of the user'shead, eyes, and/or hands based on data captured by various sensors ofhis/her individual AR system.

In one or more embodiments, the AR system may allow the user to “set-up”an avatar and “train” the avatar based on predetermined movements and/orpatterns. The user can, for example, simply act out some motions fortraining purposes. In one or more embodiments, the AR system may performa reverse kinematics analysis of the rest of user's body, and may createan animation based on the reverse kinematics analysis.

In one or more embodiments, the passable world may also containinformation about various avatars inhabiting a space. It should beappreciated that every user may be rendered as an avatar in oneembodiment. Or, a user operating an individual AR system from a remotelocation can create an avatar and digitally occupy a particular space aswell. In either case, since the passable world is not a static datastructure, but rather constantly receives information, avatar renderingand remote presence of users into a space may be based on the user'sinteraction with the user's individual AR system. Thus, rather thanconstantly updating an avatar's movement based on captured keyframes, ascaptured by cameras, avatars may be rendered based on a user'sinteraction with his/her individual augmented reality device.Advantageously, this reduces the need for individual AR systems toretrieve data from the cloud, and instead allows the system to perform alarge number of computation tasks involved in avatar animation on theindividual AR system itself.

More particularly, the user's individual AR system contains informationabout the user's head pose and orientation in a space, information abouthand movement etc. of the user, information about the user's eyes andeye gaze, information about any totems that are being used by the user.Thus, the user's individual AR system already holds a lot of informationabout the user's interaction within a particular space that istransmitted to the passable world model. This information may then bereliably used to create avatars for the user and help the avatarcommunicate with other avatars or users of that space. It should beappreciated that in one or more embodiments, third party cameras may notbe needed to animate the avatar. Rather, the avatar may be animatedbased on the user's individual AR system, and then transmitted to thecloud to be viewed/interacted with by other users of the AR system.

In one or more embodiments, the AR system captures a set of datapertaining to the user through the sensors of the AR system. Forexample, accelerometers, gyroscopes, depth sensors, IR sensors,image-based cameras, etc. may determine a movement of the user relativeto the head mounted system. This movement may be computed through theprocessor and translated through one or more algorithms to produce asimilar movement in a chose avatar. The avatar may be selected by theuser, in one or more embodiments. Or, in other embodiments, the avatarmay simply be selected by another user who is viewing the avatar. Or,the avatar may simply be a virtual, real-time, dynamic image of the useritself.

Based on captured set of data pertaining to the user (e.g., movement,emotions, direction of movement, speed of movement, physical attributes,movement of body parts relative to the head, etc.) a pose of the sensors(e.g., sensors of the individual AR system) relative to the user may bedetermined. The pose (e.g., position and orientation) allow the systemto determine a point of view from which the movement/set of data wascaptured such that it can be translated/transformed accurately. Based onthis information, the AR system may determine a set of parametersrelated to the user's movement (e.g., through vectors) and animate adesired avatar with the calculated movement.

Any similar method may be used to animate an avatar to mimic themovement of the user. It should be appreciated that the movement of theuser and the movement of the avatar (e.g., in the virtual image beingdisplayed at another user's individual AR device) are coordinated suchthat the movement is captured and transferred to the avatar in as littletime as possible. Ideally, the time lag between the captured movement ofthe user, to the animation of the avatar should be minimal.

For example, if the user is not currently at a conference room, butwants to insert an avatar into that space to participate in a meeting atthe conference room, the AR system takes information about the user'sinteraction with his/her own system and uses those inputs to render theavatar into the conference room through the passable world model. Theavatar may be rendered such that the avatar takes the form of the user'sown image such that it looks like the user himself/herself isparticipating in the conference. Or, based on the user's preference, theavatar may be any image chosen by the user. For example, the user mayrender himself/herself as a bird that flies around the space of theconference room.

At the same time, information about the conference room (e.g., keyframes, points, pose-tagged images, avatar information of people in theconference room, recognized objects, etc.) may be rendered as virtualcontent to the user who is not currently in the conference room. In thephysical space, the system may have captured keyframes that aregeometrically registered and may then derive points from the capturedkeyframes. As mentioned before, based on these points, the system maycalculate pose and may run object recognizers, and may reinsertparametric geometry into the keyframes, such that the points of thekeyframes also have semantic information attached to them. Thus, withall this geometric and semantic information, the conference room may nowbe shared with other users. For example, the conference room scene maybe rendered on the user's table. Thus, even if there is no camera at theconference room, the passable world model, using information collectedthrough prior key frames etc., is able to transmit information about theconference room to other users and recreate the geometry of the room forother users in other spaces.

Topological Map

An integral part of the passable world model is to create maps of veryminute areas of the real world. For example, in order to render virtualcontent in relation to physical objects, very detailed localization isrequired. Such localization may not be achieved simply through GPS ortraditional location detection techniques. For example, the AR systemmay not only require coordinates of a physical location that a user isin, but may, for example, need to know exactly what room of a buildingthe user is located in. Based on this information, the AR system mayretrieve data (e.g., specific geometries of real objects in the room,map points for the room, geometric information of the room, etc.) forthat room to appropriately display virtual content in relation to thereal objects of the identified room. At the same time, however, thisprecise, granular localization must be done in a cost-effective mannersuch that not too many resources are consumed unnecessarily.

To this end, the AR system may use topological maps for localizationpurposes instead of GPS or retrieving detailed geometric maps createdfrom extracted points and pose tagged images (e.g., the geometric pointsmay be too specific, and hence most costly). In one or more embodiments,the topological map is a simplified representation of physical spaces inthe real world that is easily accessible from the cloud and onlypresents a fingerprint of a space, and the relationship between variousspaces. Further details about the topological map will be providedfurther below.

In one or more embodiments, the AR system may layer topological maps onthe passable world model, for example to localize nodes. The topologicalmap can layer various types of information on the passable world model,for instance: point cloud, images, objects in space, global positioningsystem (GPS) data, Wi-Fi data, histograms (e.g., color histograms of aroom), received signal strength (RSS) data, etc. This allows variouslayers of information (e.g., a more detailed layer of information tointeract with a more high-level layer) to be placed in context with eachother, such that it can be easily retrieved. This information may bethought of as fingerprint data; in other words, it is designed to bespecific enough to be unique to a location (e.g., a particular room).

As discussed above, in order to create a complete virtual world that canbe reliably passed between various users, the AR system capturesdifferent types of information about the user's surroundings (e.g., mappoints, features, pose tagged images, objects in a scene, etc.). Thisinformation is processed and stored in the cloud such that it can beretrieved as needed. As mentioned previously, the passable world modelis a combination of raster imagery, point and descriptors clouds, andpolygonal/geometric definitions (referred to herein as parametricgeometry). Thus, it should be appreciated that the sheer amount ofinformation captured through the users' individual AR system allows forhigh quality and accuracy in creating the virtual world.

In other words, since the various AR systems (e.g., user-specifichead-mounted systems, room-based sensor systems, etc.) are constantlycapturing data corresponding to the immediate environment of therespective AR system, very detailed and accurate information about thereal world in any point in time may be known with a high degree ofcertainty. Although this amount of information is highly useful for ahost of AR applications, for localization purposes, sorting through thatmuch information to find the piece of passable world most relevant tothe user is highly inefficient and costs precious bandwidth.

To this end, the AR system creates a topological map that essentiallyprovides less granular information about a particular scene or aparticular place. In one or more embodiments, the topological map may bederived through global positioning system (GPS) data, Wi-Fi data,histograms (e.g., color histograms of a room), received signal strength(RSS) data, etc. For example, the topological map may be created byhistograms (e.g., a color histogram) of various rooms/areas/spaces, andbe reduced to a node on the topological map. For example, when a userwalks into a room or space, the AR system may take a single image (orother information) and construct a color histogram of the image. Itshould be appreciated that on some level, the histogram of a particularspace will be mostly constant over time (e.g., the color of the walls,the color of objects of the room, etc.). In other words, each room orspace has a distinct signature that is different from any other room orplace. This unique histogram may be compared to other histograms ofother spaces/areas and identified. Now that the AR system knows whatroom the user is in, the remaining granular information may be easilyaccessed and downloaded.

Thus, although the histogram will not contain particular informationabout all the features and points that have been captured by variouscameras (keyframes), the system may immediately detect, based on thehistogram, where the user is, and then retrieve all the more particulargeometric information associated with that particular room or place. Inother words, rather than sorting through the vast amount of geometricand parametric information that encompasses that passable world model,the topological map allows for a quick and efficient way to localize theAR user. Based on the localization, the AR system retrieves thekeyframes and points that are most relevant to the identified location.For example, after the system has determined that the user is in aconference room of a building, the system may then retrieve all thekeyframes and points associated with the conference room rather thansearching through all the geometric information stored in the cloud.

Referring now to FIG. 13, an example embodiment of a topological map4300 is presented. As discussed above, the topological map 4300 may be acollection of nodes 4302 and connections 4304 between the nodes 4302(e.g., represented by connecting lines). Each node 4302 represents aparticular location (e.g., the conference room of an office building)having a distinct signature or fingerprint (e.g., GPS information, colorhistogram or other histogram, Wi-Fi data, RSS data etc.) and the linesmay represent the connectivity between them. It should be appreciatedthat the connectivity may not have anything to do with geographicalconnectivity, but rather may simply be a shared device or a shared user.For example, a first user may have walked from a first node to a secondnode. This relationship may be represented through a connection betweenthe nodes. As the number of AR users increases, the nodes andconnections between the nodes will also proportionally increase,providing more precise information about various locations.

Once the AR system has identified a node of the topological map, thesystem may then retrieve a set of geometric information pertaining tothe node to determine how/where to display virtual content in relationto the real objects of that space. Thus, layering the topological map onthe geometric map is especially helpful for localization and efficientlyretrieving only relevant information from the cloud.

In one or more embodiments, the AR system can represent two imagescaptured by respective cameras of a part of the same scene in a graphtheoretic context as first and second pose tagged images. It should beappreciated that the cameras in this context may refer to a singlecamera taking images of different scenes, or it may be two differentcameras. There is some strength of connection between the pose taggedimages, which could, for example, be the points that are in the field ofviews of both of the cameras. In one or more embodiments, the cloudbased computer may construct such as a graph (e.g., a topologicalrepresentation of a geometric world similar to that of FIG. 13). Thetotal number of nodes and edges in the graph is much smaller than thetotal number of points in the images.

At a higher level of abstraction, other information monitored by the ARsystem can be hashed together. For example, the cloud based computer(s)may hash together one or more of global positioning system (GPS)location information, Wi-Fi location information (e.g., signalstrengths), color histograms of a physical space, and/or informationabout physical objects around a user. The more points of data there are,the more likely that the computer will statistically have a uniqueidentifier for that space. In this case, space is a statisticallydefined concept.

As an example, an office may be a space that is represented as, forexample a large number of points and two dozen pose tagged images. Thesame space may be represented topologically as a graph having only acertain number of nodes (e.g., 5, 25, 100, 1000, etc.), which can beeasily hashed against. Graph theory allows representation ofconnectedness, for example as a shortest path algorithmically betweentwo spaces.

Thus, the system abstracts away from the specific geometry by turningthe geometry into pose tagged images having implicit topology. Thesystem takes the abstraction a level higher by adding other pieces ofinformation, for example color histogram profiles, and the Wi-Fi signalstrengths. This makes it easier for the system to identify an actualreal world location of a user without having to understand or processall of the geometry associated with the location.

FIG. 14 illustrates an example method 4400 of constructing a topologicalmap. First, at 4402, the user's individual AR system may capture animage from a first point of view of a particular location (e.g., theuser walks into a room of a building, and an image is captured from thatpoint of view). At 4404, a color histogram may be generated based on thecaptured image. As mentioned before, the system may use any other typeof identifying information, (e.g., Wi-Fi data, RSS information, GPSdata, number of windows, etc.) but the color histogram is used in thisexample for illustrative purposes.

Next, at 4406, the system runs a search to identify the location of theuser by comparing the color histogram to a database of color histogramsstored in the cloud. At 4410, a decision is made to determine whetherthe color histogram matches an existing color histogram stored in thecloud. If the color histogram does not match any color histogram of thedatabase of color histograms, it may then be stored as a node in thetopological made (4414). If the color histogram matches an existingcolor histogram of the database, it is stored as a node in the cloud(4412). If the color histogram matches an existing color histogram inthe database, the location is identified, and the appropriate geometricinformation is provided to the individual AR system.

Continuing with the same example, the user may walk into another room oranother location, where the user's individual AR system takes anotherpicture and generates another color histogram of the other location. Ifthe color histogram is the same as the previous color histogram or anyother color histogram, the AR system identifies the location of theuser. If the color histogram is not the same as a stored histogram,another node is created on the topological map. Additionally, since thefirst node and second node were taken by the same user (or samecamera/same individual user system), the two nodes are connected in thetopological map.

In addition to aiding in localization, the topological map may also beused to improve/fix errors and or missing information in geometric maps.In one or more embodiment, topological maps may be used to findloop-closure stresses in geometric maps or geometric configurations of aparticular place. As discussed above, for any given location or space,images taken by one or more AR systems (multiple field of view imagescaptured by one user's individual AR system or multiple users' ARsystems) give rise a large number of map points of the particular space.For example, a single room may correspond to thousands of map pointscaptured through multiple points of views of various cameras (or onecamera moving to various positions).

The AR system utilizes map points to recognize objects (through objectrecognizers) as discussed above, and to add to on to the passable worldmodel in order to store a more comprehensive picture of the geometry ofvarious objects of the real world. In one or more embodiments, mappoints derived from various key frames may be used to triangulate thepose and orientation of the camera that captured the images. In otherwords, the collected map points may be used to estimate the pose (e.g.,position and orientation) of the keyframe (e.g. camera) capturing theimage.

It should be appreciated, however, that given the large number of mappoints and keyframes, there are bound to be some errors (e.g., stresses)in this calculation of keyframe position based on the map points. Toaccount for these stresses, the AR system may perform a bundle adjust. Abundle adjust allows for the refinement, or optimization of the mappoints and keyframes to minimize the stresses in the geometric map.

For example, as illustrated in FIG. 15, an example geometric map ispresented. As shown in FIG. 15, the geometric map may be a collection ofkeyframes 2502 that are all connected to each other. The keyframes 2502may represent a point of view from which various map points are derivedfor the geometric map. In the illustrated embodiment, each node of thegeometric map represents a keyframe (e.g., camera), and the variouskeyframes are connected to each other through connecting lines 2504.

In the illustrated embodiment, the strength of the connection betweenthe different keyframes is represented by the thickness of theconnecting lines 2504. For example, as shown in FIG. 15, the connectinglines between node 2502 a and 2502 b is depicted as a thicker connectingline 2504 as compared to the connecting lines between node 2502 a andnode 2502 f. The connecting lines between node 2502 a and node 2502 d isalso depicted to be thickener than the connecting line between 2502 band node 2502 d. In one or more embodiments, the thickness of theconnecting lines represents the number of features or map points sharedbetween them. For example, if a first keyframe and a second keyframe areclose together, they may share a large number of map points (e.g., node2502 a and node 2502 b), and may thus be represented with a thickerconnecting line. Of course, it should be appreciated that other ways ofrepresenting geometric maps may be similarly used.

For example, the strength of the line may be based on a geographicalproximity between the keyframes, in another embodiment. Thus, as shownin FIG. 15, each geometric map represents a large number of keyframes2502 and their connection to each other. Now, assuming that a stress isidentified in a particular point of the geometric map, a bundle adjustmay be performed to alleviate the stress by radially pushing the stressout radially out from the identified point of stress 2506. The stress ispushed out radially in waves 2508 (e.g., n=1, n=2, etc.) propagatingfrom the point of stress, as will be described in further detail below.

The following description illustrates an example method of performing awave propagation bundle adjust. It should be appreciated that all theexamples below refer solely to wave propagation bundle adjusts, andother types of bundle adjusts may be similarly used in otherembodiments. First, a particular point of stress is identified. In theillustrated embodiment of FIG. 15, consider the center (node 2502 a) tobe the identified point of stress. For example, the system may determinethat the stress at a particular point of the geometric map is especiallyhigh (e.g., residual errors, etc.). The stress may be identified basedon one of two reasons. One, a maximum residual error may be defined forthe geometric map. If a residual error at a particular point is greaterthan the predefined maximum residual error, a bundle adjust may beinitiated. Second, a bundle adjust may be initiated in the case of loopclosure stresses, as will be described further below (when a topologicalmap indicates mis-alignments of map points).

When a stress is identified, the AR system distributes the error evenly,starting with the point of stress and propagating it radially through anetwork of nodes that surround the particular point of stress. Forexample, in the illustrated embodiment, the bundle adjust may distributethe error to n=1 (one degree of separation from the identified point ofstress, node 2502 a) around the identified point of stress. In theillustrated embodiment, nodes 2502 b-2502 g are all part of the n=1 wavearound the point of stress, node 2502 a.

In some cases, this may be sufficient. In other embodiments, the ARsystem may propagate the stress even further, and push out the stress ton=2 (two degrees of separation from the identified point of stress, node2502 a), or n=3 (three degrees of separation from the identified pointof stress, node 2502 a) such that the stress is radially pushed outfurther and further until the stress is distributed evenly. Thus,performing the bundle adjust is an important way of reducing stress inthe geometric maps. Ideally, the stress is pushed out to n=2 or n=3 forbetter results.

In one or more embodiments, the waves may be propagated in even smallerincrements. For example, after the wave has been pushed out to n=2around the point of stress, a bundle adjust can be performed in the areabetween n=3 and n=2, and propagated radially. By controlling the waveincrements, this iterative wave propagating bundle adjust process can berun on massive data to reduce stresses on the system. In an optionalembodiment, because each wave is unique, the nodes that have beentouched by the wave (e.g., bundle adjusted) may be colored so that thewave does not re-propagate on an adjusted section of the geometric map.In another embodiment, nodes may be colored so that simultaneous wavesmay propagate/originate from different points in the geometric map.

As mentioned previously, layering the topological map on the geometricmap of keyframes and map points may be especially crucial in findingloop-closure stresses. A loop-closure stress refers to discrepanciesbetween map points captured at different times that should be alignedbut are mis-aligned. For example, if a user walks around the block andreturns to the same place, map points derived from the position of thefirst keyframe and the map points derived from the position of the lastkeyframe as extrapolated from the collected map points should ideally beidentical. However, given stresses inherent in the calculation of pose(position of keyframes) based on the different map points, there areoften errors and the system does not recognize that the user has comeback to the same position because estimated key points from the firstkey frame are not geometrically aligned with map points derived from thelast keyframe. This may be an example of a loop-closure stress.

To this end, the topological map may be used to find the loop-closurestresses in a geometric map. Referring back to the previous example,using the topological map along with the geometric map allows the ARsystem to recognize the loop-closure stresses in the geometric mapbecause the topological map may indicate that the user has come back tothe starting point (based on the color histogram, for example). Forexample, referring to the layered map 4600 of FIG. 16, the nodes of thetopological map (e.g., 4604 a and 4604 b) are layered on top of thenodes of the geometric map (e.g., 4602 a-4602 f). As shown in FIG. 16,the topological map, when placed on top of the geometric map may suggestthat keyframe B (node 4602 g) is the same as keyframe A (node 4602 a).Based on this, a loop closure stress may be detected, the system detectsthat keyframes A and B should be closer together in the same node, andthe system may then perform a bundle adjust. Thus, having identified theloop-closure stress, the AR system may then perform a bundle adjust onthe identified point of stress, using a bundle adjust technique, such asthe one discussed above.

It should be appreciated that performing the bundle adjust based on thelayering of the topological map and the geometric map ensures that thesystem only retrieves the keyframes on which the bundle adjust needs tobe performed instead of retrieving all the keyframes in the system. Forexample, if the AR system identifies, based on the topological map thatthere is a loop-closure stress, the system may simply retrieve thekeyframes associated with that particular node or nodes of thetopological map, and perform the bundle adjust on only those keyframesrather than all the keyframes of the geometric map. Again, this enablesthe system to be efficient and not retrieve unnecessary information thatmight unnecessarily tax the system.

Referring now to FIG. 17, an example method 2700 for correctingloop-closure stresses based on the topological map is described. At2702, the system may identify a loop closure stress based on atopological map that is layered on top of a geometric map. Once the loopclosure stress has been identified, at 2704, the system may retrieve theset of key frames associated with the node of the topological map atwhich the loop closure stress has occurred. After having retrieved thekey frames of that node of the topological map, the system may, at 2706,initiate a bundle adjust on that point in the geometric map. At 2708,the stress is propagated away from the identified point of stress and isradially distributed in waves, to n=1 (and then n=2, n=3, etc.) similarto the technique shown in FIG. 15.

Mapping

In mapping out the virtual world, it is important to know all thefeatures and points in the real world to accurately portray virtualobjects in relation to the real world. To this end, as discussed above,map points captured from various head-worn AR systems are constantlyadding to the passable world model by adding in new pictures that conveyinformation about various points and features of the real world. Basedon the points and features, as discussed above, one can also extrapolatethe pose and position of the keyframe (e.g., camera, etc.). While thisallows the AR system to collect a set of features (2D points) and mappoints (3D points), it may also be important to find new features andmap points to render a more accurate version of the passable world.

One way of finding new map points and/or features may be to comparefeatures of one image against another. Each feature may have a label orfeature descriptor attached to it (e.g., color, identifier, etc.).Comparing the labels of features in one picture to another picture maybe one way of uniquely identifying natural features in the environment.For example, if there are two keyframes, each of which captures about500 features, comparing the features of one keyframe with the other mayhelp determine new map points. However, while this might be a feasiblesolution when there are just two keyframes, it becomes a very largesearch problem that takes up a lot of processing power when there aremultiple keyframes, each of which captures millions of points. In otherwords, if there are M keyframes, each having N unmatched features,searching for new features involves an operation of MN² (O(MN²)).Unfortunately, this is a very large search operation.

One approach to find new points that avoids such a large searchoperation is by render rather than search. In other words, assuming theposition of M keyframes are known and each of them has N points, the ARsystem may project lines (or cones) from N features to the M keyframesto triangulate a 3D position of the various 2D points. Referring now toFIG. 18, in this particular example, there are 6 keyframes 2802, andlines or rays are rendered (using a graphics card) from the 6 keyframesto the points 2804 derived from the respective keyframe. In one or moreembodiments, new 3D map points may be determined based on theintersection of the rendered lines. In other words, when two renderedlines intersect, the pixel coordinates of that particular map point in a3D space may be 2 instead of 1 or 0. Thus, the higher the intersectionof the lines at a particular point, the higher the likelihood is thatthere is a map point corresponding to a particular feature in the 3Dspace. In one or more embodiments, this intersection approach, as shownin FIG. 18 may be used to find new map points in a 3D space.

It should be appreciated that for optimization purposes, rather thanrendering lines from the keyframes, triangular cones may instead berendered from the keyframe for more accurate results. The triangularcone is projected such that a rendered line to the N feature (e.g.,2804) represents a bisector of the triangular cone, and the sides of thecone are projected on either side of the Nth feature. In one or moreembodiments, the half angles to the two side edges may be defined by thecamera's pixel pitch, which runs through the lens mapping function oneither side of the Nth feature.

The interior of the cone may be shaded such that the bisector is thebrightest and the edges on either side of the Nth feature may be set of0. The camera buffer may be a summing buffer, such that bright spots mayrepresent candidate locations of new features, but taking into accountboth camera resolution and lens calibration. In other words, projectingcones, rather than lines may help compensate for the fact that certainkeyframes are farther away than others that may have captured thefeatures at a closer distance In this approach, a triangular conerendered from a keyframe that is farther away will be larger (and have alarge radius) than one that is rendered from a keyframe that is closer.A summing buffer may be applied in order to determine the 3D map points(e.g., the brightest spots of the map may represent new map points).

Essentially, the AR system may project rays or cones from a number of Nunmatched features in a number M prior key frames into a texture of theM+1 keyframe, encoding the keyframe identifier and feature identifier.The AR system may build another texture from the features in the currentkeyframe, and mask the first texture with the second. All of the colorsare a candidate pairing to search for constraints. This approachadvantageously turns the O(MN²) search for constraints into an O(MN)render, followed by a tiny O((<M)N(<<N)) search.

In another approach, new map points may be determined by selecting avirtual keyframe from which to view the existing N features. In otherwords, the AR system may select a virtual key frame from which to viewthe map points. For instance, the AR system may use the above keyframeprojection, but pick a new “keyframe” based on a PCA (Principalcomponent analysis) of the normals of the M keyframes from which {M,N}labels are sought (e.g., the PCA-derived keyframe will give the optimalview from which to derive the labels).

Performing a PCA on the existing M keyframes provides a new keyframethat is most orthogonal to the existing M keyframes. Thus, positioning avirtual key frame at the most orthogonal direction may provide the bestviewpoint from which to find new map points in the 3D space. Performinganother PCA provides a next most orthogonal direction, and performing ayet another PCA provides yet another orthogonal direction. Thus, it canbe appreciated that performing 3 PCAs may provide an x, y and zcoordinates in the 3D space from which to construct map points based onthe existing M key frames having the N features.

FIG. 19 describes an example method 2900 for determining map points fromM known keyframes. First, at 2902, the AR system retrieves M keyframesassociated with a particular space. As discussed above, M keyframesrefers to known keyframes that have captured the particular space. Next,at 2904, a PCA of the normal of the keyframes is performed to find themost orthogonal direction of the M key frames. It should be appreciatedthat the PCA may produce three principals each of which is orthogonal tothe M key frames. Next, at 2906, the AR system selects the principalthat is smallest in the 3D space, and is also the most orthogonal to theview of all the M keyframes.

At 2908, after having identified the principal that is orthogonal to thekeyframes, a virtual keyframe may be placed along the axis of theselected principal. In one or more embodiments, the virtual keyframe maybe placed far away enough so that its field of view includes all the Mkeyframes.

Next, at 2910, the AR system may render a feature buffer, such that rays(or cones) are rendered from each of the M key frames to the Nthfeature. The feature buffer may be a summing buffer, such that thebright spots (pixel coordinates at which lines N lines have intersected)represent candidate locations of N features. It should be appreciatedthat the same process described above may be repeated with all three PCAaxes, such that map points are found on x, y and z axes.

Next, at 2912 the system may store all the bright spots in the image asvirtual “features”. Next, at 2914, a second “label” buffer may becreated at the virtual keyframe to stack the lines (or cones) and tosave their {M, N} labels. Next, at 2916, a “mask radius” may be drawnaround each bright spot in the feature buffer. It should be appreciatedthat the mask radius represents the angular pixel error of the virtualcamera. The AR system may fill the resulting circles around each brightspot, and mask the label buffer with the resulting binary image. In anoptional embodiment, the circles may be filled by applying a gradientfilter such that the center of the circles are bright, but thebrightness fades to zero at the periphery of the circle.

In the now-masked label buffer, the principal rays may be collectedusing the {M, N}-tuple label of each triangle. It should be appreciatedthat if cones/triangles are used instead of rays, the AR system may onlycollect triangles where both sides of the triangle are captured insidethe circle. Thus, the mask radius essentially acts as a filter thateliminates poorly conditioned rays or rays that have a large divergence(e.g., a ray that is at the edge of a field of view (FOV) or a ray thatemanates from far away).

For optimization purposes, the label buffer may be rendered with thesame shading as used previously in generated cones/triangles). Inanother optional optimization embodiment, the triangle density may bescaled from one to zero instead of checking the extents (sides) of thetriangles. Thus, rays that are very divergent will effectively raise thenoise floor inside a masked region. Running a local threshold-detectinside the mark will trivially pull out the centroid from only thoserays that are fully inside the mark.

At 2918, the collection of masked/optimized rays m may be fed to abundle adjuster to estimate and/or correct the location of thenewly-determined map points. It should be appreciated that this systemis functionally limited to the size of the render buffers that areemployed. For example, if the keyframes are widely separated, theresulting rays/cones will have a lower resolution.

In an alternate embodiment, rather than using PCA analysis to find theorthogonal direction, the virtual key frame may be placed at thelocation of one of the M key frames. This may be a simpler and moreeffective solution because the M key frames may have already capturedthe space at the best resolution of the camera. If PCAs are used to findthe orthogonal directions at which to place the virtual keyframes, theprocess above is repeated by placing the virtual camera along each PCAaxis and finding map points in each of the axes.

In yet another example method of finding new map points, the AR systemmay hypothesize new map points. The AR system may retrieve the firstthree principal components from a PCA analysis on M keyframes. Next, avirtual keyframe may be placed at each principal. Next, a feature buffermay be rendered exactly as discussed above at each of the three virtualkeyframes. Since the principal components are by definition orthogonalto each other, rays drawn from each camera outwards may hit each otherat a point in 3D space.

It should be appreciated that there may be multiple intersections ofrays in some instances. Thus, there may now be N features in eachvirtual keyframe. Next, a geometric algorithm may be used to find thepoints of intersection between the different rays. This geometricalgorithm may be a constant time algorithm because there may be N³ rays.Masking and optimization may be performed in the same manner describedabove to find the map points in 3D space.

World Model Refinement

In one or more embodiments, the AR system may stitch separate smallworld model segments into larger coherent segments. This may occur ontwo levels: small models and large models. Small models correspond to alocal user level (e.g., on the computational component, for instancebelt pack). Large models, on the other hand, correspond to a large scaleor system-wide level (e.g., cloud system) for “entire world” modeling.This can be implemented as part of the passable world model concept.

For example, the individual AR system worn by a first user capturesinformation about a first office, while the individual AR system worn bya second user captures information about a second office that isdifferent from the first office. The captured information may be passedto cloud-based computers, which eventually builds a comprehensive,consistent, representation of real spaces sampled or collected byvarious users walking around with individual AR devices. The cloud basedcomputers build the passable world model incrementally, via use overtime. It is anticipated that different geographic locations will buildup, mostly centered on population centers, but eventually filling inmore rural areas.

The cloud based computers may, for example, perform a hash on GPS,Wi-Fi, room color histograms, and caches of all the natural features ina room, and places with pictures, and generate a topological graph thatis the topology of the connectedness of things, as described above. Thecloud-based computers may use topology to identify where to stitch theregions together. Alternatively, the cloud based computers could use ahash of features (e.g., the topological map), for example identifying ageometric configuration in one place that matches a geometricconfiguration in another place.

Rendering Systems

In one or more embodiments, the AR system may simultaneously orconcurrently employ separate occlusion, depth, and color display orrendering.

For example, the individual AR system may have a color rendering module(e.g., LCD, DLP, LCOS, fiber scanner projector, etc.) that gives spatialcolor and a spatial backlight which can selectively illuminate parts ofcolor mechanism. In one or more embodiments, the individual AR systemmay employ a time sequential approach. For example, the individual ARsystem may produce or load one color image, then step through differentregions of the image and selectively illuminate the regions.

In conjunction with selective illumination, the individual AR system canoperate a variable focal element that changes the actual perceived depthof the light. The variable focal element may shape the wave front, forexample, synchronously with a backlight. The individual AR system mayrender color, for instance at 60 frames per second. For every one ofthose frames, the individual AR system can have six frames that arerendered during that period of time that are selectively illuminatingone portion of the background. The individual AR system renders all thelight in the background in the 60th of a second. This approachadvantageously allows rendering of various pieces of an image atdifferent depths.

Most often, a person's head faces forward. The AR system may infer hiporientation using a low pass filter that identifies a direction in whicha user's head is pointing and/or by detecting motion relative to thereal world or ambient environment. In one or more embodiments, the ARsystem may additionally or alternatively employ knowledge of anorientation of hands. There is a statistical correlation between thesebody parts and the hip location and/or hip orientation. Thus, the ARsystem can infer a hip coordinate frame without using instrumentation todetect hip orientation.

In one or more embodiments, the AR system can use the hip coordinateframe as a virtual coordinate frame to which virtual content isrendered. This may constitute the most general class. The AR system mayrender virtual objects around the hip coordinate frame like a homescreen (e.g., a social networking screen rendered on one part of theuser's view, a video screen rendered on another part of the user's view,etc.).

In a world-centric coordinate frame, virtual content (e.g., virtualobjects, virtual tools, and other virtual constructs, for instanceapplications, features, characters, text and other symbols) is fixedwith respect to objects of the real world, rather than being fixed to acoordinate frame oriented around the user.

Depth Packing

In some implementations, the AR system blends multiple levels of depthdata into a single color frame, for example exploiting the timingcharacteristics of the LCD display. For example, the AR system may packsix depth layers of data into one single red/green/blue (RGB) frame.

Depth in color space may be achieved by, for example, manipulating depthframes by encoding a Z-buffer in color space. The AR system may encodedepth planes as layer-masks in individual color channels.

In one or more embodiments, this may be implemented using standardgraphic cards to create a custom shader that renders a single frame thathas an RGB frame and the z distance. Thus, the encoded z-buffer may beused to generate volumetric information and determine the depth of theimage. A hardware component may be used to interpret the frame bufferand the encoded z-buffer. This means that the hardware and softwareportions are completely abstracted and that there is minimal couplingbetween the software and hardware portions.

Three (3) Stage Interaction System

The AR system may render virtual content locked to various referenceframes, as discussed above. For example, where the AR system includes ahead worn component, a view locked (HUD) reference frame may be useful.That is, the reference frame stays locked to a reference frame of thehead, turning and/or tilting with movement of the head. A body lockedreference frame is locked to a reference frame of the body, essentiallymoving around (e.g., translating, rotating) with the movement of theuser's body. A world locked reference frame is fixed to a referenceframe of the environment and remains stationary within environment. Forexample, a world locked reference frame may be fixed to a room, wall ortable.

In some implementations, the AR system may render virtual content withportions locked to respective ones of two or more reference frames. Forexample, the AR system may render virtual content using two or morenested reference frames. For instance, the AR system may employ aspherical paradigm. As an example, an inner-most sphere extending to afirst radial distance may be locked to a head or view reference frame.Radially outward of the inner-most sphere, an intermediate sphere (e.g.,slightly-less than arm's length) may be locked to a body referenceframe. Radially outward of the intermediate sphere, an outer or anouter-most sphere (e.g., full arm extension) may be locked to a worldreference frame.

As previously noted, the AR system may statistically or otherwise inferactual pose of a body or portion thereof (e.g., hips, hands). Forinstance, the AR system may select or use the user's hips as acoordinate frame. The AR system statistically infers where the hips are(e.g., position, orientation) and treats that pose as a persistentcoordinate frame. As a user moves their head (e.g., rotate, tilt), theAR system renders virtual content (e.g., virtual objects, virtual tools,and other virtual constructs, for instance applications, features,characters, text, digits and other symbols) which are locked to the poseof the user's hips. This can advantageously dramatically increase thevirtual field of view. If the user moves their head to look around, theuser can see virtual content that is tied around the user's body. Thatis, the AR system can use a body centered coordinate frame forrendering, e.g., render virtual content with respect to the hipcoordinate frame and the virtual content stays locked in the user'sfield of view no matter how the user's head moves.

Predictive Head Model

In one or more embodiments, the AR system may use information from oneor more of actual feature tracker, gyros, accelerometers, compass andother sensors to predict head movement direction, speed and/oracceleration. It takes a certain amount of time to render a frame ofvirtual content for the rendering engine. The AR system may use variousstructures or components for rendering frames of virtual content. Forexample, the AR system may employ a fiber scan projector. Alternatively,the AR system may employ a low persistence display. The AR system maycause flashing of the frame, for example via a backlight. The AR systemcould use an LCD, for instance, quickly flash the LCD with a very brightbacklight, to realize an extremely low persistence display that does notscan through the rasterization. In other words, the AR system gets thepixels in line, and then flashes the LCD with a very bright light for avery short duration.

In some implementations, the AR system may render frames to the worldcoordinate system, allowing the frame scanning projector (FSP) to scanin the world coordinates and sample the frames. Further details onpredictive head modeling are disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser.No. 14/212,961, entitled “DISPLAY SYSTEMS AND METHOD,” filed on Mar. 14,2014, which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety.

Content Rendering

Ambient light is sometimes a problem for AR systems because it mayaffect a quality of projection of virtual content to the user.Typically, AR systems have little or no control over the entry ofambient light. Thus there is typically little or no control over how theambient environment appears where an AR system is used in a real worldenvironment. For instance, ambient light conditions over an entire scenemay be overly bright or overly dim. Also for instance, light intensitymay vary greatly throughout a scene. Further, there is little or nocontrol over the physical objects that appear in a scene, some of whichmay be sources of light (e.g., luminaries, windows) or sources ofreflection. This can cause rendered virtual content (e.g., virtualobjects, virtual tools, and other virtual constructs, for instanceapplications, features, characters, text and other symbols) difficult toperceive by the AR user.

In one or more embodiments, the AR system may automatically identifyrelatively dark and/or relatively bright area(s) in an ambientenvironment. Based on the identified dark and/or bright areas, the ARsystem may render virtual content (e.g., virtual text, digits or othersymbols) at relatively dark places in the AR user's field of vision inorder to address occlusion issues. In this way, the AR system rendersvirtual content in a manner such that it is best visible to the AR userin view of the ambient environment.

Optimizing Content for Environment

In one or more embodiments, the AR system may additionally oralternatively optimize rendered virtual content based at least in parton one or more characteristics of the particular ambient environment.The AR system may render virtual content to accommodate for aspects ofthe ambient environment, in some embodiments. For instance, if a wall isrelatively light, the AR system may render text that will appearsuperimposed on the door as dark text. Or, in another instance, virtualcontent may be dynamically altered (e.g., darkened, lightened, etc.)based on the detected light of the ambient environment.

Typically, it may be difficult for the AR system to render black.However, the AR system may be able to render white or other colors. If ascene includes a white physical wall, then the AR system will rendertext, digits, and/or other symbols that can be seen against the whitebackground. For example, the AR system may render a color halo about thetext, digits or other symbols, allowing the white wall to shine through.If a scene includes a black or dark colored wall, the AR system mayrender the text, digits, other symbols in a relatively light color.Thus, the AR system adjusts visual properties of what is being renderedbased on characteristics of the ambient background.

Image Based Lighting Solutions

In order to create convincing realism in the virtual content (e.g.,virtual objects, virtual tools, and other virtual constructs, forinstance applications, features, characters, text, digits and othersymbols) in augmented reality, it is advantageous to emulate thelighting system incident to the environment in which it issuper-imposed. The classic Lambertian lighting model does not illuminatean object in the way that people are used to seeing in the real, naturalworld. The lighting in a real world environment is a complex system thatis constantly and continuously changing throughout the space, rich withboth dramatic contrasts and subtle nuances of intensity and color. Theeye is used to seeing this in the real world. The Lambertian lightingmodel does not capture these nuances, and the human visual perceptionsystem notices the missing lighting effects, thereby destroying theillusion of realism.

In one or more embodiments, a technique called Image Based Lighting(IBL) may be effective in creating realism in computer graphics (CG).IBL does not attempt to compute a complex lighting system the way theradiosity solution does, but rather captures real world lightingphotographically with light probes. A technique termed the “silversphere light probe” technique is effective in capturing the complexcolors reflected toward the viewer; however 360 degree cameras are ableto capture higher fidelity of data of the entire environment, creatingmuch more convincing light maps.

In one or more embodiments, IBL techniques may be used to render virtualcontent that appears indistinguishable from real objects. Modelingpackages such as Maya®, utilize libraries of IBL light maps, from whichthe user can choose to illuminate a particular virtual scene. The userchooses a light map from the library that seems consistent with thecontent of the scene. Thus, it is possible to create realism from IBL,without the light map being identical to the environment in which thelight map is used, if the light map is simply similar to theenvironment. This suggests that it is the subtle nuances in the lightingthat the human visual perception system expects to see on the object. Ifthose nuances are inconsistent with the environment, they may interferewith creating an illusion of reality.

One solution to employ IBL in an AR system is to supply a vast libraryof sample light maps created by photography, covering many differentenvironments to encompass a wide variety of potential situations. Eachof the light maps may be associated with various light parametersspecific to the identified situation. The light maps could be stored inthe cloud and referenced as needed to illuminate various items orinstances of virtual content. In such an implementation, it would beadvantageous to automate the selection of light map for a particularreal world environment.

The user's individual AR system is already equipped with one or morecameras (e.g., outward facing cameras), and photographically samples theenvironment in which the user is located. The AR system may use thecaptured image data as map selection criteria. Samples from the camerascan be used to heuristically search a library of light maps, and findthe closest approximation light map. The AR system may use a variety ofparameters, for example frequency data, color palette, dynamic range,etc., The AR system may compare the parameters of the captured visualdata against the library light maps and find the light map with theleast error.

Referring now to FIG. 20, an example method 1800 of selecting anappropriate light map is provided. At 1802, the user's individual ARsystem captures an image of the ambient surrounding through the user'sFOV cameras. Next, the system selects at least one parameter of thecaptured image data to compare against the library of light maps. Forexample, the system may compare a color palette of the captured imageagainst the library of light maps. At 1804, the system compares theparameter of the captured image against the parameters of the lightmaps, determines a closest approximation of the parameter (1806) andselects a light map having the closest approximation (1808). The systemselects the closest approximation, and renders the virtual object basedon the selected light map, at 1810.

Alternatively, or additionally, a selection technique utilizingartificial neural networks may be used. The AR system may use a neuralnetwork trained on the set or library of light maps. The neural networkuses the selection criteria data as input, and produces a light mapselection as output. After the neural network is trained on the library,the AR system presents the real world data from the user's camera to theneural network, and the neural network selects the light map with theleast error from the library, either instantly or in real-time.

This approach may also allow for modification of a light map. Regardlessof whether the selection is done heuristically or with a neural network,the selected light map will have error compared to the input samples inthe criteria data. If the selected light map is, for example, close infrequency data and dynamic range, but the color palette containsexcessive error, the AR system may modify the color palette to betteralign with the color palette of the real world sampled data, and mayconstruct a modified light map from the new constituency data.

The AR system may also combine data from multiple light maps that wereidentified as near solutions to produce a newly constructed light map.In one or more embodiments, the AR system can then store the newlyconstructed map as a new entry in the library for future selection. Ifneural net selection is used, this would require re-training the neuralnetwork in the cloud on the augmented set or library. However, there-training may be brief because the new additions may only requireminor adjustments to one or more network weights utilized by the neuralnetwork.

FIG. 21 illustrates an example method 1900 for creating a light map.First, at 1902, the user's individual AR system captures an image of theambient surroundings through the user's FOV cameras. Next, the systemselects at least one parameter of the captured image data to compareagainst the library of light maps. For example, the system may compare acolor palette of the captured image against the library of light maps.Next, at 1904 the system compares the parameter of the captured imageagainst the parameters of the light maps, determines one or more closestapproximation of the parameters (1906), and selects light mapscorresponding to the closest approximations.

For example, the light map may be selected based on a light intensitydetected from the captured image. Or, the light map may compare abrightness, or gradient of brightness, or pattern of brightness in theimage, and use that information to select the closest approximation. At1908, the system constructs a new light map by combining parameters ofthe selected light maps. Next, at 1910, the new light map is added tothe library of light maps.

Interactive Solution to Lighting

Another approach to supplying appropriate light maps for IBLapplications is to use the user's AR device (e.g., head worn component)itself as a light probe to create the IBL light map from scratch. Aspreviously noted, the device is equipped with one or more cameras. Thecamera(s) can be arranged and/or oriented to capture images of theentire 360 degree environment, which can be used to create a usablelight map in situ. Either with 360 degree cameras or with an array ofnarrow angle cameras stitched together, the AR system may be used as alight probe, operating in real time to capture a light map of the actualenvironment, not just an approximation of the environment.

Although the captured light map is centric to the user's position, itmay be sufficient to create a “convincing enough” object light map. Insuch a situation, the error is inversely proportional to the level ofscrutiny it is subjected to. That is, a far-away object will exhibit ahigh amount of error using a user-centric light map, but the user'svisual perception system will be in a poor position to detect that errordue to the distance from the eye being relatively large. Whereas, thecloser the user is to the object, the more keen the user's visualperception system is to detect error, but at the same time, the moreaccurate the light map will be, as the user's head approaches a positionof the object. While this may be sufficient in many situations, atechnique to address that error is discussed below.

Transformations of Light Maps

In one or more embodiments, the AR system (e.g., cloud based computers,individual computational components) may apply transformations to theuser-centric light maps that project the user-centric light map as asuitable object centric light map, reducing or eliminating the error ofthe translational offset. As schematically illustrated in FIG. 22, onetechnique models the user-centric light map as a classic sphere 2024centered on the user 2020, of an appropriate radius, perhaps similar toa size of the room. Another sphere 2026 is modeled around the object2022 to be lit, of a radius that fits inside the user-centric sphere2024. The data from the user-centric sphere 2024 is then projected ontothe object-centric sphere 2026 from the point of view of the object2022, creating a new light map. Ray casting will work for thisprojection. Alternatively, a numerical method may be employed. Thistransformation warps the user-centric light map to be more accurate fromthe point of view of the object.

Color intensities are then modified to adjust for distance attenuationaccording to the offset position of the object. Let att(x) be a lightattenuation function, where x is the distance from the light to theviewer. The intensity of a given Texel of the user-centric light map isexpressed as lm=ls*att(d), where lm is the intensity in the map and lsis the intensity at the light's source. Thus ls=lm/att(d). So the newintensity in the new object-centric transformation is lm′=ls*att(d′).

It should be appreciated that the sky sphere method of transformationmay work well for situations where the sources of light captured aresignificantly far from the user and object positions.

More specifically, if the sources of light are at least as far away asthe sphere boundary which was modeled to represent the sources of light,the technique will likely work. However, as light data sources encroachupon the inner sphere space, error may quickly grow. The worst casescenario is when light data is sourced directly between the user and theobject. This would result in the light data mapping to the rear of theobject, rather than the front where it is needed.

If the light camera system on the user's device is equipped withstereoscopic or depth sensing utility, the AR system can store a depthvalue associated with each Texel of the light map. The only area thisdepth data is particularly useful is on the data that resides betweenthe user and the object. Thus, a stereoscopic camera system may sufficeso long as it captures depth in the user's field of view, which is thearea in question. The areas of the light map residing behind the user,or for that matter behind the object, is less dependent on depth databecause those areas project similarly to both user and object alike.Simply attenuating the values for different distances may be sufficientfor that area of the light map.

Once depth data is captured for the area of the map where it is needed(e.g., in front of the user), the AR system can compute the exactEuclidean coordinates of the source of that light data on a Texel byTexel basis. As schematically illustrated in FIG. 23, an object-centriclight map may be constructed by projecting those coordinates onto theobject sphere, and attenuating the intensities accordingly. As shown inFIG. 23, the user is located at the center of the user semi-sphere 2028,and an object sphere 2026 is modeled around the object 2022, similar tothat of FIG. 22. Once the depth data is captured for the area of themap, the AR system computes the exact coordinates of the source of thelight data for each space point 2030 based on the depth data.

Although there is no guarantee that the color data projecting toward theobject is the same as the color projecting toward the user from theseinner space points, the color data will likely be close enough for thegeneral case.

Iterative Learning

The above discussion focused on constructing an object-centric light mapbased on user-centric data from one sampled user position. However, inmany or most cases, the user will be navigating throughout anenvironment, enabling the collection of many samples of the lightenvironment from many different perspectives. Furthermore, havingmultiple users in the environment increases the sample sets that can becollected interactively in real time. As the user traverses or userstraverse the physical space, the AR system captures new light maps atsmart intervals and key positions. These light maps may be stored in thecloud as a grid. As new virtual content enters a scene, the AR systemaccess the stored grid and finds a corresponding light map thatrepresents a position closest to the location of the virtual content.The AR system computes the transformation of the light map from the gridposition to the virtual object's own position.

FIG. 24 describes an example method 1700 for using a transformationlight map in order to project virtual content. At 1702, the user'sindividual AR system estimates a location and position of a userrelative to the world. Next, at 1704, the AR system accesses a grid oflight maps stored in the cloud, and selects a light map in a grid thatis closest to the location and position of the user (1706). At 1708, theAR system computes a transformation of the light map from the gridposition to the virtual object's position such that the lighting of thevirtual object matches the lighting of the ambient surroundings.

In one or more embodiments, case based reasoning is employed in that asolution of the ‘nearest case’ is adopted, modified, and employed. Thetransformed case may be stored back in the grid as a meta-case to beused for that location until better sampled data becomes available toreplace the meta-case data. As the grid becomes populated with more andmore cases, the opportunity will become available to upgrade the lightmaps for the existing virtual content to more appropriate cases. Thisway, the interactivity of the users allows the AR system to learn thelighting of the environment, and iteratively converge the virtualcontent to a realistic solution.

The stored grid may remain in the cloud for future use in the sameenvironment. Certainly, drastic changes to the environment may challengethe effectiveness of the grid, and the grid may need to be rebuilt fromstart. However certain types of changes can still utilize previouslycollected data. For instance, global changes, such as dimming thelights, can still use the collected data, with a scaling down of theluminance across the dataset while keeping the higher frequency data.

Updating the Light Maps

A number of techniques are discussed below to apply effective imagebased lighting to virtual content in the AR system. In one or moreembodiments, the AR system learns the lighting of a physical environmentthrough interaction of the users and their device cameras. The data maybe stored in the cloud and continuously improved with furtherinteraction. The objects select light maps using case-based reasoningtechniques, applying transformations to adjust the light maps, anddiscreetly update the light maps at opportune times or conditions,converging toward a realistic solution.

Through interaction and sampling, the AR system improves itsunderstanding of the light environment of a physical space. In one ormore embodiments, the AR system will update that the light maps beingused in rendering of various virtual content to more realistic onesbased on the acquired knowledge of the light environment.

A potential problem may occur if, for example a user witnesses an update(e.g., change in rendering of a virtual content). For example, if theuser sees changes occurring on the surface of a virtual object, thesurface will appear to animate, destroying the desired illusion ofrealism. To solve this potential problem, the AR system executes updatesdiscreetly, during special circumstances that minimize the risk of theuser noticing an update or change to a piece of or instance of virtualcontent.

For example, consider an initial application when a virtual objectenters a scene. An update or change may be performed as a virtual objectleaves the field of view of user, briefly or even just far into theperiphery of the user's field of view. This minimizes the likelihoodthat the user will perceive the update or change of the virtual object.

The AR system may also update partial maps, corresponding to back-facingparts of the virtual object, which the user cannot see. If the userwalks around the virtual object, the user will discover an increasedrealism on the far side without ever seeing the update or change. The ARsystem may update or change the fore-side of the virtual object, whichis now out of the user's field of view while the user is viewing therear or far side of the virtual object. The AR system may performupdates or changes on various selected portions (e.g., top, bottom,left, right, front, rear) of the map of the virtual object while thoseportions are not in the field of view of the user.

In one or more embodiments, the AR system may wait to perform updates orchanges until an occurrence of one or more conditions that typically maylead a user to expect a change on the surface/lights of the virtualobject. For example, the AR system may perform a change or update when ashadow passes over the virtual object. Since the positions of bothvirtual and real objects are known, standard shadowing techniques can beapplied. The shadow would obscure the update or change from the viewer.Also for example, the AR system may update or change the map of thevirtual object in response to light in the environment dimming, toreduce the perception of the update or change by the user.

In yet another example, the AR system may update or change a map of avirtual object in response to occurrence of an event that is known or tohave a high probability of drawing the attention of a user. Forinstance, in response to a virtual monster crashing down through aceiling, like in a video game, the AR system may update or change themap for other virtual objects since it is highly likely that the user isfocusing on the virtual monster and not the other virtual objects.

User Interface System

The AR system may use one or more of a large variety of user interface(UI) components. The user interface components may include componentsthat perform: eye tracking, hand tracking, totem tracking, naturalfeature pose determination, head pose determination, as well aspredictive head pose determination. The user interface system may employan asynchronous world model. The user interface components may employview-centered (e.g., head) rendering, body centered rendering, and/orworld centered rendering, as discussed herein. Further, the userinterface components may employ various types of environmental data, forexample GPS location data, Wi-Fi signal strength data, cellphonedifferential signal strength, known features, image histogram profiles,hashes of room features, etc., proximity towalls/ceiling/floors/3D-blobs/etc., location in the world (e.g., home,office, car, street), approximate social data (e.g., “friends”), and/orvoice recognition.

As described above, asynchronous portion model refers to building alocal copy in the individual AR system(s) and synchronizing any changesagainst the cloud. For example, if a chair is moved in a space, a chairobject recognizer may recognize that the chair has moved. However, theremay be a delay in getting that information to the cloud, and thengetting it downloaded to the local system such that a remote presenceavatar may sit in the chair.

It should be appreciated that environmental data can contribute to howthe user interface can be used. Since the AR system is situationallyaware, it implicitly has a semantic understanding of where the user orphysical objects are located. For example, GPS location data, Wi-Fisignal strength or network identity, differential signal strength, knowfeatures, histogram prof, etc., can be used to make statisticalinferences for a topological map. The concept of user interface in theaugmented reality implementation can be extended. For example, if a useris close to a wall and knocks on a wall, the knocking can be interpretedby the user interface as a user experience (UX) interaction modality. Asanother example, if a user selects a particular Wi-Fi signal on adevice, the selection could be interpreted by the user interface as aninteraction modality. The world around the user becomes part of the UIfor the user.

User Inputs

As illustrated in FIG. 25, the user interface may be responsive to oneor more of a variety of inputs. The user interface of the AR system may,for example, be responsive to hand inputs 1602, for instance: gestures,touch, multi-touch, and/or multiple hand input. The user interface ofthe AR system may, for example, be responsive to eye inputs 1604, forinstance: eye vector, eye condition (e.g., Open/Close). The userinterface of the AR system may, for example, be responsive to toteminputs 1606. Totems may take any of a large variety of forms, forexample a belt pack. Totem input may be static, for example tracking aclosed book/tablet, etc. Totem input may be dynamic, for exampledynamically changing like flipping pages in a book etc. Totem input maybe related to communications with the totem, for instance a ray guntotem. Totem input may be related to intrinsic communications, forinstance communications via USB, datacomms, etc. Totem input may begenerated via an analog joystick, click wheel, etc.

The user interface of the AR system may, for example, be responsive tohead pose, for instance head position and/or orientation.

The user interface of the AR system may, for example, be responsive tovoice, for instance spoken commands and parameters.

The user interface of the AR system may, for example, be responsive toenvironmental sounds. The AR system may, for instance, include one ormore ambient microphone to pick up sounds, for example chest taps, etc.

The user interface of the AR system may, for example, be responsive toenvironmental situations. For instance, the user interface may beresponsive to movement occurring against or proximate a wall, or amovement above a defined threshold (e.g., movement at a relatively highspeed).

It may be useful to have a consistent user interface metaphor to suggestto developers and build into AR system's operating system (OS), andwhich may allow for reskinning for various applications and/or games.One approach may employ user actuatable levers or buttons icons,although that approach lacks tactile feedback. Levers may have arespective fulcrum point, although such an approach may be difficult forusers. Another approach is based on a “force field” metaphor thatintentionally keeps things away, sparks on boundaries, etc. A furtherapproach uses a loose or sloppy control mechanism, like pullchains.

In one or more embodiments, a virtual image may be presented to the userin the form of a virtual user interface. The virtual user interface maybe a floating virtual screen, as shown in FIG. 25. Since the systemknows where (e.g., the depth, distance, perceived location, etc.) of thevirtual user interface, the system may easily calculate the coordinatesof the virtual interface, and allow the user to interact with thevirtual screen, and receive inputs from the virtual user interface basedon the coordinates at which the interaction happens, and a knowncoordinates of the user's hands, eyes, etc. Thus, in other words, thesystem maps coordinates of various “keys”, or features of the virtualuser interface, and also maps coordinates/knows a location of the user'shands, eyes (or any other type of input) and correlates them, to receiveuser input.

For example, if a virtual user interface is presented to the user in ahead-centric reference frame, the system always knows adistance/location of various “keys” or features of the virtual userinterface in relation to a world-centric reference frame. The systemthen performs some mathematical translations/transforms to find arelationship between both reference frames. Next, the user may “select”a button of the user interface by squeezing the virtual icon. Since thesystem knows the location of the touch (e.g., based on haptic sensors,image-based sensors, depth sensors etc.), the system determines whatbutton was selected based on the location of the hand squeeze and theknown location of the button the user interface.

Thus, constantly knowing the location of virtual objects in relation toreal objects, and in relation to various reference frames (e.g.,world-centric, head centric, hand-centric, hip-centric etc.) allows thesystem to understand various user inputs. Based on the input, the systemmay use a mapping table to correlate the input to a particular action orcommand, and execute the action.

In other words, the user's interaction with the virtual user interfaceis always being tracked (e.g., eye interaction, gesture interaction,hand interaction, head interaction, etc.). These interactions (orcharacteristics of these interactions), including, but not limited tolocation of the interaction, force of interaction, direction of theinteraction, frequency of interaction, number of interactions, nature ofinteractions, etc. are used to allow the user to provide user input tothe user in response to the displayed virtual user interface.

Eye Tracking

In one or more embodiments, the AR system can track eye pose (e.g.,orientation, direction) and/or eye movement of one or more users in aphysical space or environment (e.g., a physical room). The AR system mayemploy information (e.g., captured images or image data) collected byone or more sensors or transducers (e.g., cameras) positioned andoriented to detect pose and or movement of a user's eyes. For example,head worn components of individual AR systems may include one or moreinward facing cameras and/or light sources to track a user's eyes.

As noted above, the AR system can track eye pose (e.g., orientation,direction) and eye movement of a user, and construct a “heap map”. Aheat map may be a map of the world that tracks and records a time,frequency and number of eye pose instances directed at one or morevirtual or real objects. For example, a heat map may provide informationregarding what virtual and/or real objects produced the mostnumber/time/frequency of eye gazes or stares. This may further allow thesystem to understand a user's interest in a particular virtual or realobject.

Advantageously, in one or more embodiment, the heat map may be used inadvertising or marketing purpose and to determine an effectiveness of anadvertising campaign, in some embodiments. The AR system may generate ordetermine a heat map representing the areas in the space to which theuser(s) are paying attention. In one or more embodiments, the AR systemcan render virtual content (e.g., virtual objects, virtual tools, andother virtual constructs, for instance applications, features,characters, text, digits, and other symbols), for example, with positionand/or optical characteristics (e.g., color, luminosity, brightness)optimized based on eye tracking and/or the heat map

Pseudo-Random Pattern

In one or more embodiments, the AR system may employ pseudo-random noisein tracking eye pose or eye movement. For example, the head worncomponent of an individual AR system may include one or more lightsources (e.g., LEDs) positioned and oriented to illuminate a user's eyeswhen the head worn component is worn by the user. The camera(s) detectslight from the light sources which is returned from the eye(s). Forexample, the AR system may use Purkinje images, e.g., reflections ofobjects from the structure of the eye.

The AR system may vary a parameter of the light emitted by the lightsource to impose a recognizable pattern on emitted, and hence detected,light which is reflected from eye. For example, the AR system maypseudo-randomly vary an operating parameter of the light source topseudo-randomly vary a parameter of the emitted light. For instance, theAR system may vary a length of emission (ON/OFF) of the light source(s).This facilitates automated detection of the emitted and reflected lightfrom light emitted and reflected from ambient light sources.

As illustrated in FIG. 26 and FIG. 27, in one implementation, lightsources (e.g., LEDs) 1502 are positioned on a frame to be on one side(e.g., top) of the eye and sensors (e.g., photodiodes) are positioned onthe bottom part of the frame. The eye may be seen as a reflector.Notably, one eye needs to be instrumented and tracked since pairs ofeyes tend to move in tandem. The light sources 1502 (e.g., LEDs) arenormally turned ON and OFF one at a time (e.g., time slice) to produce apatterned code (e.g., amplitude variation or modulation). The AR systemperforms autocorrelation of signals produced by the sensor(s) (e.g.,photodiode(s)) to determine a time of flight signal. In one or moreembodiments, the AR system employs a known geometry of the light sources(e.g., LEDs), the sensor(s) (e.g., photodiodes), and distance to theeye.

The sum of vectors with the known geometry of the eye allow for eyetracking. When estimating the position of the eye, since the eye has asclera and an eyeball, the geometry can be represented as two circleslayered on top of each other. The eye pointing vector can be determinedor calculated with no cameras. Also the eye center of rotation may beestimated since the cross section of the eye is circular and the scleraswings through a particular angle. This actually results in a vectordistance because of autocorrelation of the received signal against knowntransmitted signal, not just ray traces. The output may be seen as aPurkinje image 1400, as shown in FIG. 27, which may in turn be used totrack movement of the eyes.

In some implementations, the light sources may emit in the infrared (IR)range of the electromagnetic spectrum, and the photosensors may beselectively responsive to electromagnetic energy in the IR range.

In one or more embodiments, light rays are emitted toward the user'seyes as shown in the illustrated embodiment. The AR system is configuredto detect one or more characteristics associated with an interaction ofthe light with the user's eyes (e.g., Purkinje image, an extent ofbackscattered light detected by the photodiodes, a direction of thebackscattered light, etc.). This may be captured by the photodiodes, asshown in the illustrated embodiments. One or more parameters of theinteraction may be measured at the photodiodes. These parameters may inturn be used to extrapolate characteristics of eye movements or eyepose.

Hand Tracking

In one or more embodiments, the AR system may perform hand tracking viaone or more user input detection devices and/or techniques.

For example, the AR system may employ one or more image sensors (e.g.,cameras) that are head worn and which face forward from the user's bodyreference frame. Additionally, or alternatively, the AR system may useone or more sensors (e.g., cameras) which are not head worn or not wornon any portion of the user's body. For instance, the AR system may useone or more sensors (e.g., cameras, inertial sensors, gyros,accelerometers, temperature sensor or thermocouples, perspirationsensors) mounted in the physical environment (e.g., room-based sensorsystems discussed above).

As another example, the AR system may rely on stereo-pairs of cameras orphoto sensors. Alternatively, the AR system may include one or moresources of structured light to illuminate the hands. The structuredlight may, or may not, be visible to the user. For example, the lightsources may selectively emit in the infrared or near-infrared range ofthe electromagnetic spectrum.

As yet a further example, the AR system may perform hand tracking via aninstrumented glove, for instance similar to the haptic glove discussedherein. The AR system may optically track the haptic glove. Additionallyor alternatively, the AR system may use telemetry from one or more glovecarried sensors, for example one or more internal sensors oraccelerometers (e.g., MEMS accelerometers).

Finger Gestures

In some implementations, fingers gestures may be used as input for theAR system. Finger gestures can take a variety of forms and may, forexample, be based on inter-finger interaction, pointing, tapping,rubbing, etc.

Other gestures may, for example, include 2D or 3D representations ofcharacters (e.g., letters, digits, punctuation). To enter such agesture, a user may simply swipe finger(s) in a predefined characterpattern.

In one implementation of a user interface, the AR system may renderthree circles, each circle with specifically chosen characters (e.g.,letters, digits, punctuation) arranged circumferentially around theperiphery. The user can swipe through the circles and letters todesignate a character selection or input. In another implementation, theAR system renders a keyboard (e.g., QWERTY keyboard) low in the user'sfield of view, proximate a position of the user's dominate hand in abent-arm position. The user can than perform a swipe-like motion throughdesired keys, and then indicate that the swipe gesture selection iscomplete by performing another gesture (e.g., thumb-to-ring fingergesture) or other proprioceptive interaction.

Other gestures may include thumb/wheel selection type gestures, whichmay, for example be used with a “popup” circular radial menu (e.g., asshown in FIG. 39F) which may be rendered in a field of view of a user,according to one illustrated embodiment.

Referring now to FIG. 28, some additional gestures 2820 are alsoillustrated. It should be appreciated that the finger gestures shown inFIG. 28 are for examples only, and other gestures may be similarly used.In the top row left-most position, a pointed index finger may indicate acommand to focus, for example to focus on a particular portion of ascene or virtual content at which the index finger is pointed. Forexample, gesture 2822 shows a gesture for a “focus” command consistingof a pointed index finger. The AR system may recognize the gesture(e.g., through the captured image/video of the finger, through sensorsif a haptic glove is used, etc.) and perform the desired action.

In the top row middle position, a first pinch gesture with the tip ofthe index finger touching a tip of the thumb to form a closed circle mayindicate a grab and/or copy command. As shown in FIG. 28, the user maypress the index and thumb finger together to “pinch” or grab one part ofthe user interface to another (e.g., gesture 2824). For example, theuser may use this gesture to copy or move an icon (e.g., an application)from one part of the virtual user interface to another.

In the top row right-most position, a second pinch gesture with the tipof the ring finger touching a tip of the thumb to form a closed circlemay indicate a select command. Similarly, a “select” gesture maycomprise pressing of the user's thumb with the ring finger, in one ormore embodiments, as shown in FIG. 2826. For example, the user may usethis gesture to select a particular document, or perform some type of ARcommand.

In the bottom row left-most position, a third pinch gesture with the tipof the pinkie finger touching a tip of the thumb to form a closed circlemay indicate a back and/or cancel command. Gesture 2830 shows an example“back/cancel” gesture that involves pressing together of the pinkyfinger and the thumb.

In the bottom row middle position, a gesture in which the ring andmiddle fingers are curled with the tip of the ring finger touching a tipof the thumb may indicate a click and/or menu command. Gesture 2832(e.g., pressing together of the thumb with the middle finger and thering finger) may be used for a “right click” command or to signify tothe system to go back to the “Main Menu.”

In one or more embodiments, the user may simply hit a “Home Space”button on the AR system visor to go back to Home page (e.g., 2834). Inthe bottom row right-most position, touching the tip of the index fingerto a location on the head worn component or frame may indicate a returnto home command. This may cause the AR system to return to a home ordefault configuration, for example displaying a home or default menu.

As shown in FIG. 28, the AR system recognizes various commands, and inresponse to these commands, performs certain functions that are mappedto the commands. The mapping of gestures to commands may be universallydefined, across many users, facilitating development of variousapplications which employ at least some commonality in user interfaces.Alternatively or additionally, users or developers may define a mappingbetween at least some of the gestures and corresponding commands to beexecuted by the AR system in response to detection of the commands.

Totems

As briefly described above, totems may be used to, for example, toprovide a virtual user interface. The AR system may, for example, rendera virtual user interface to appear on the totem.

The totem may take a large variety of forms. For example, the totem maybe an inanimate object. For instance, the totem may take the form of apiece or sheet of metal (e.g., aluminum). A processor component of anindividual AR system, for instance a belt pack, may serve as a totem.

The AR system may, for example, replicate a user interface of an actualphysical device (e.g., keyboard and/or trackpad of a computer, a mobilephone) on what is essentially a “dumb” totem. As an example, the ARsystem may render the user interface of an Android® phone onto a surfaceof an aluminum sheet. The AR system may detect interaction with therendered virtual user interface, for instance via a front facing camera,and implement functions based on the detected interactions.

For example, the AR system may implement one or more virtual actions,for instance render an updated display of Android® phone, render video,render display of a Webpage. Additionally or alternatively, the ARsystem may implement one or more actual or non-virtual actions, forinstance send email, send text, and/or place a phone call. This mayallow a user to select a desired user interface to interact with from aset of actual physical devices, for example various models ofsmartphones and/or tablets, or other smartphones, tablets, or even othertypes of appliances which have user interfaces such as televisions,DVD/Blu-ray players, thermostats, etc.

Thus a totem may be any object on which virtual content can be rendered,including for example a body part (e.g., hand) to which virtual contentcan be locked in a user experience (UX) context. In someimplementations, the AR system can render virtual content so as toappear to be coming out from behind a totem, for instance appearing toemerge from behind a user's hand, and slowly wrapping at least partiallyaround the user's hand. The AR system detects user interaction with thevirtual content, for instance user finger manipulation with the virtualcontent which is wrapped partially around the user's hand.

Alternatively, the AR system may render virtual content so as to appearto emerge from a palm of the user's hand, and the system may detect auser's fingertip interaction and/or manipulation of that virtualcontent. Thus, the virtual content may be locked to a reference frame ofa user's hand. The AR system may be responsive to various userinteractions or gestures, including looking at some item of virtualcontent, moving hands, touching hands to themselves or to theenvironment, other gestures, opening and/or closing eyes, etc.

As described herein, the AR system may employ body centered rendering,user-centered rendering, hand-centered rendering, hip-centeredrendering, world-centered rendering, propreaceptic tactile interactions,pointing, eye vectors, totems, object recognizers, body sensorrendering, head pose detection, voice input, environment or ambientsound input, and the environment situation input to interact with theuser of the AR system.

FIG. 29 shows a totem according to one illustrated embodiment, which maybe used as part of a virtual keyboard 2922 implementation. The totem mayhave a generally rectangular profile and a soft durometer surface. Thesoft surface provides some tactile perception to a user as the userinteracts with the totem via touch.

As described above, the AR system may render the virtual keyboard imagein a user's field of view, such that the virtual keys, switches or otheruser input components appear to reside on the surface of the totem. TheAR system may, for example, render a 4D light field which is projecteddirectly to a user's retina. The 4D light field allows the user tovisually perceive the virtual keyboard with what appears to be realdepth.

The AR system may also detect or capture the user's interaction with thesurface of the totem. For example, the AR system may employ one or morefront facing cameras to detect a position and/or movement of a user'sfingers. In particularly, the AR system may identify from the capturedimages, any interactions of the user's fingers with various portions ofthe surface of the totem. The AR system maps the locations of thoseinteractions with the positions of virtual keys, and hence with variousinputs (e.g., characters, numbers, punctuation, controls, functions). Inresponse to the inputs, the AR system may cause the inputs to beprovided to a computer or some other device.

Additionally or alternatively, the AR system may render the virtual userinterface differently in response to selected user interactions. Forinstance, some user interactions may correspond to selection of aparticular submenu, application or function. The AR system may respondto such selection by rendering a new set of virtual interface elements,based at least in part on the selection. For instance, the AR system mayrender a submenu or a menu or other virtual interface element associatedwith the selected application or functions. Thus, rendering by AR systemmay be context sensitive.

FIG. 30A shows a top surface of a totem according to one illustratedembodiment, which may be used as part of a virtual mouse implementation3002. The top surface of the totem may have generally ovoid profile,with hard surface portion, and one or more soft surface portions toreplicate keys of a physical mouse. The soft surface portions do notactually need to implement switches, and the totem may have no physicalkeys, physical switches or physical electronics. The soft surfaceportion(s) provides some tactile perception to a user as the userinteracts with the totem via touch.

The AR system may render the virtual mouse image 3002 in a user's fieldof view, such that the virtual input structures (e.g., keys, buttons,scroll wheels, joystick, thumbstick) appear to reside on the top surfaceof the totem. As discussed above, the AR system may, for example, rendera 4D light field which is projected directly to a user's retina toprovide the visual perception of the virtual mouse with what appears tobe real depth.

The AR system may also detect or capture movement of the totem by theuser, as well as, user interaction with the surface of the totem. Forexample, the AR system may employ one or more front facing cameras todetect a position and/or movement of the mouse and/or interaction of auser's fingers with the virtual input structures (e.g., keys). The ARsystem maps the position and/or movement of the mouse. The AR systemmaps user interactions with the positions of virtual input structures(e.g., keys), and hence with various inputs (e.g., controls, functions).In response to the position, movements and/or virtual input structureactivations, the AR system may cause corresponding inputs to be providedto a computer or some other device.

Additionally or alternatively, the AR system may render the virtual userinterface differently in response to select user interactions. Forinstance, some user interactions may correspond to selection of aparticular submenu, application or function. The AR system may respondto such selection by rendering a new set of virtual interface elements,based at least in part on the selection. For instance, the AR systemrender a submenu or a menu or other virtual interface element associatedwith the selected application or functions, as discussed above.

FIG. 30B shows a bottom surface 3004 of the totem of FIG. 30A, accordingto one illustrated embodiment, which may be used as part of a virtualtrackpad implementation. The bottom surface of the totem may be flatwith a generally oval or circular profile. The bottom surface may be ahard surface. The totem may have no physical input structures (e.g.,keys, buttons, scroll wheels), no physical switches and no physicalelectronics.

The AR system may optionally render a virtual trackpad image in a user'sfield of view, such that the virtual demarcations appear to reside onthe bottom surface of the totem. The AR system detects or captures auser's interaction with the bottom surface of the totem. For example,the AR system may employ one or more front facing cameras to detect aposition and/or movement of a user's fingers on the bottom surface ofthe totem. For instance, the AR system may detect one or more staticpositions of one or more fingers, or a change in position of one or morefingers (e.g., swiping gesture with one or more fingers, pinchinggesture using two or more fingers).

The AR system may also employ the front facing camera(s) to detectinteractions (e.g., tap, double tap, short tap, long tap) of a user'sfingers with the bottom surface of the totem. The AR system maps theposition and/or movement (e.g., distance, direction, speed,acceleration) of the user's fingers along the bottom surface of thetotem. The AR system maps user interactions (e.g., number ofinteractions, types of interactions, duration of interactions) with thebottom surface of the totem, and hence with various inputs (e.g.,controls, functions). In response to the position, movements and/orinteractions, the AR system may cause corresponding inputs to beprovided to a computer or some other device.

FIG. 30C shows a top surface of a totem 3006 according to anotherillustrated embodiment, which may be used as part of a virtual mouseimplementation.

The totem of FIG. 30C is similar in many respects to that of the totemof FIG. 30A. Hence, similar or even identical structures are identifiedwith the same reference numbers.

The top surface of the totem of FIG. 30C includes one or more indents ordepressions at one or more respective locations on the top surface wherethe AR system with render keys or other structures (e.g., scroll wheel)to appear.

FIG. 31A shows an orb totem 3102 with a flower petal-shaped (e.g., Lotusflower) virtual user interface 3104 according to another illustratedembodiment.

The totem 3102 may have a spherical shape with either a hard outersurface or a soft outers surface. The outer surface of the totem 3102may have texture to facilitate a sure grip by the user. The totem 3102may have no physical keys, physical switches or physical electronics.

The AR system renders the flower petal-shaped virtual user interfaceimage 3104 in a user's field of view, so as to appear to be emanatingfrom the totem 3102. Each of the petals of the virtual user interface3104 may correspond to a function, category of functions, and/orcategory of content or media types, tools and/or applications.

The AR system may optionally render one or more demarcations on theouter surface of the totem. Alternatively or additionally, the totem3102 may optionally bear one or more physical demarcations (e.g.,printed, inscribed) on the outer surface. The demarcation(s) may assistthe user in visually orienting the totem 3102 with the flowerpetal-shaped virtual user interface 3104.

In one or more embodiments, the AR system detects or captures a user'sinteraction with the totem 3102. For example, the AR system may employone or more front facing cameras to detect a position, orientation,and/or movement (e.g., rotational direction, magnitude of rotation,angular speed, angular acceleration) of the totem with respect to somereference frame (e.g., reference frame of the flower petal-shapedvirtual user interface, real world, physical room, user's body, user'shead). For instance, the AR system may detect one or more staticorientations or a change in orientation of the totem 3102 or ademarcation on the totem 3102.

The AR system may also employ the front facing camera(s) to detectinteractions (e.g., tap, double tap, short tap, long tap, fingertipgrip, enveloping grasp) of a user's fingers with outer surface of thetotem. The AR system maps the orientation and/or change in orientation(e.g., distance, direction, speed, acceleration) of the totem to userselections or inputs. The AR system optionally maps user interactions(e.g., number of interactions, types of interactions, duration ofinteractions) with the outer surface of the totem 3102, and hence withvarious inputs (e.g., controls, functions). In response to theorientations, changes in position (e.g., movements) and/or interactions,the AR system may cause corresponding inputs to be provided to acomputer or some other device.

Additionally or alternatively, and as discussed above, the AR system mayrender the virtual user interface 3104 differently in response to selectuser interactions. For instance, some user interactions may correspondto selection of a particular submenu, application or function. The ARsystem may respond to such selection by rendering a new set of virtualinterface elements, based at least in part on the selection. Forinstance, the AR system render a submenu or a menu or other virtualinterface element associated with the selected application or functions.

Referring now to FIG. 31B, the totem 3106 is disc shaped. Similar to theuser interface 3104 of FIG. 31A, a flower-petal shaped virtual userinterface 3104 is rendered when the totem 3106 is selected, in someembodiments.

The totem of FIG. 31B is disc-shaped, having a top surface and bottomsurface which may be flat or domed, as illustrated in FIG. 31B. That is,a radius of curvature may be infinite or much larger than a radius ofcurvature of a peripheral edge of the totem.

The AR system renders the flower petal-shaped virtual user interface3104 image in a user's field of view, so as to appear to be emanatingfrom the totem. As noted above, each of the petals may correspond to afunction, category of functions, and/or category of content or mediatypes, tools and/or applications. FIG. 31B represents a number ofexamples, including a search function, settings functions, collection offavorites, profiles, collection of games, collection of tools and/orapplications, social media or application category, media or contentcategory or collection (e.g., entertainment, electronic magazines,electronic books, other publications, movies, television programs).

FIG. 31C shows an orb totem 3108 in a first configuration 3110 and asecond configuration 3112, according to another illustrated embodiment.In particular, the totem 3108 has a number of arms or elements which areselectively moveable or positionable with respect to each other. Forexample, a first arm or pair of arms may be rotated with respect to asecond arm or pair of arms. The first arm or pair of arms may be rotatedfrom a first configuration 3110 to a second configuration 3112. Wherethe arms are generally arcuate, as illustrated, in the firstconfiguration, 3110, the arms form an orb or generally sphericalstructure. In the second configuration, 3112, the second arm or pairs ofarms align with the first arm or pairs of arms to form an partial tubewith a C-shaped profile, as shown in the illustrated embodiment.

The arms may have an inner diameter sized large enough to receive awrist or other limb of a user, in one or more embodiments. The innerdiameter may be sized small enough to prevent the totem 3108 fromsliding off the limb during use. For example, the inner diameter may besized to comfortably receive a wrist of a user, while not sliding past ahand of the user. This allows the totem 3108 to take the form of abracelet, for example when not in use, for convenient carrying. A usermay then configure the totem 3108 into an orb shape for use, in afashion similar to the orb totems described above. The totem may have nophysical keys, physical switches or physical electronics.

Notably, the virtual user interface (such as virtual user interface 3104shows in FIGS. 31A and 31B) is omitted from FIG. 31C. The AR system mayrender a virtual user interface in any of a large variety of forms, forexample the flower petal-shaped virtual user interface 3104 previouslyillustrated and discussed.

FIG. 32A shows a handheld controller shaped totem 3202, according toanother illustrated embodiment.

The totem 3202 has a gripping section sized and configured tocomfortably fit in a user's hand. The totem 3202 may include a number ofuser input elements, for example a key or button and a scroll wheel. Theuser input elements may be physical elements, although not connected toany sensor or switches in the totem, which itself may have no physicalswitches or physical electronics. Alternatively, the user input elementsmay be virtual elements rendered by the AR system. Where the user inputelements are virtual elements, the totem 3202 may have depressions,cavities, protrusions, textures or other structures to tactile replicatea feel of the user input element.

The AR system detects or captures a user's interaction with the userinput elements of the totem. For example, the AR system may employ oneor more front facing cameras to detect a position and/or movement of auser's fingers with respect to the user input elements of the totem. Forinstance, the AR system may detect one or more static positions of oneor more fingers, or a change in position of one or more fingers (e.g.,swiping or rocking gesture with one or more fingers, rotating orscrolling gesture, or both).

The AR system may also employ the front facing camera(s) to detectinteractions (e.g., tap, double tap, short tap, long tap) of a user'sfingers with the user input elements of the totem. The AR system mapsthe position and/or movement (e.g., distance, direction, speed,acceleration) of the user's fingers with the user input elements of thetotem 3202. The AR system maps user interactions (e.g., number ofinteractions, types of interactions, duration of interactions) of theuser's fingers with the user input elements of the totem, and hence withvarious inputs (e.g., controls, functions). In response to the position,movements and/or interactions, the AR system may cause correspondinginputs to be provided to a computer or some other device.

FIG. 32B shows a block shaped totem 3204, according to anotherillustrated embodiment.

The totem 3204 may have the shape of a cube with six faces, or someother three-dimensional geometric structure. The totem 3204 may have ahard outer surface or a soft outer surface. The outer surface of thetotem 3204 may have texture to facilitate a sure grip by the user. Thetotem 3204 may have no physical keys, physical switches or physicalelectronics.

The AR system may render a virtual user interface image in a user'sfield of view, so as to appear to be on the face(s) of the outer surfaceof the totem 3204, in one or more embodiments. Each of the faces, andcorresponding virtual input prompt, may correspond to a function,category of functions, and/or category of content or media types, toolsand/or applications.

The AR system detects or captures a user's interaction with the totem3204. For example, the AR system may employ one or more front facingcameras to detect a position, orientation, and/or movement (e.g.,rotational direction, magnitude of rotation, angular speed, angularacceleration) of the totem 3204 with respect to some reference frame(e.g., reference frame of the real world, physical room, user's body,user's head). For instance, the AR system may detect one or more staticorientations or a change in orientation of the totem 3204.

The AR system may also employ the front facing camera(s) to detectinteractions (e.g., tap, double tap, short tap, long tap, fingertipgrip, enveloping grasp) of a user's fingers with outer surface of thetotem 3204. The AR system maps the orientation and/or change inorientation (e.g., distance, direction, speed, acceleration) of thetotem 3204 to user selections or inputs. The AR system optionally mapsuser interactions (e.g., number of interactions, types of interactions,duration of interactions) with the outer surface of the totem 3204, andhence with various inputs (e.g., controls, functions). In response tothe orientations, changes in position (e.g., movements) and/orinteractions, the AR system may cause corresponding inputs to beprovided to a computer or some other device.

In response to the orientations, changes in position (e.g., movements)and/or interactions, the AR system may change one or more aspects of therendering the virtual user interface cause corresponding inputs to beprovided to a computer or some other device. For example, as a userrotates the totem, different faces may come into the user's field ofview, while other faces rotate out of the user's field of view. The ARsystem may respond by rendering virtual interface elements to appear onthe now visible faces, which were previously hidden from the view of theuser. Likewise, the AR system may respond by stopping the rendering ofvirtual interface elements which would otherwise appear on the faces nowhidden from the view of the user.

Additionally or alternatively, the AR system may render the virtual userinterface differently in response to select user interactions. Forinstance, some user interactions may correspond to selection of aparticular submenu, application or function. The AR system may respondto such selection by rendering a new set of virtual interface elements,based at least in part on the selection. For instance, the AR systemrender a submenu or a menu or other virtual interface element associatedwith the selected application or functions.

FIG. 32C shows a handheld controller shaped totem 3206, according toanother illustrated embodiment.

The totem 3206 has a gripping section sized and configured tocomfortably fit in a user's hand, for example a cylindrically tubularportion. The totem 3206 may include a number of user input elements, forexample a number of pressure sensitive switches and a joy or thumbstick.The user input elements may be physical elements, although not connectedto any sensor or switches in the totem, which itself may have nophysical switches or physical electronics. Alternatively, the user inputelements may be virtual elements rendered by the AR system. Where theuser input elements are virtual elements, the totem 3206 may havedepressions, cavities, protrusions, textures or other structures totactile replicate a feel of the user input element.

The AR system detects or captures a user's interaction with the userinput elements of the totem 3206. For example, the AR system may employone or more front facing cameras to detect a position and/or movement ofa user's fingers with respect to the user input elements of the totem.For instance, the AR system may detect one or more static positions ofone or more fingers, or a change in position of one or more fingers(e.g., swiping or rocking gesture with one or more fingers, rotating orscrolling gesture, or both). The AR system may also employ the frontfacing camera(s) to detect interactions (e.g., tap, double tap, shorttap, long tap) of a user's fingers with the user input elements of thetotem.

As discussed above, the AR system maps the position and/or movement(e.g., distance, direction, speed, acceleration) of the user's fingerswith the user input elements of the totem 3206. The AR system maps userinteractions (e.g., number of interactions, types of interactions,duration of interactions) of the user's fingers with the user inputelements of the totem 3206, and hence with various inputs (e.g.,controls, functions). In response to the position, movements and/orinteractions, the AR system may cause corresponding inputs to beprovided to a computer or some other device.

FIG. 32D shows another handheld controller shaped totem, 3208 accordingto another illustrated embodiment. The totem 3208 has a gripping sectionsized and configured to comfortably fit in a user's hand. The totem 3208may include a number of user input elements, for example a key or buttonand a joy or thumbstick. The user input elements may be physicalelements, although not connected to any sensor or switches in the totem,which itself may have no physical switches or physical electronics.Alternatively, the user input elements may be virtual elements renderedby the AR system. Where the user input elements are virtual elements,the totem 3208 may have depressions, cavities, protrusions, textures orother structures to tactile replicate a feel of the user input element.

The AR system detects or captures a user's interaction with the userinput elements of the totem 3208. For example, the AR system may employone or more front facing cameras to detect a position and/or movement ofa user's fingers with respect to the user input elements of the totem.For instance, the AR system may detect one or more static positions ofone or more fingers, or a change in position of one or more fingers(e.g., swiping or rocking gesture with one or more fingers, rotating orscrolling gesture, or both).

Similar to the above, the AR system may also employ the front facingcamera(s) to detect interactions (e.g., tap, double tap, short tap, longtap) of a user's fingers with the user input elements of the totem. TheAR system maps the position and/or movement (e.g., distance, direction,speed, acceleration) of the user's fingers with the user input elementsof the totem 3208. The AR system maps user interactions (e.g., number ofinteractions, types of interactions, duration of interactions) of theuser's fingers with the user input elements of the totem, and hence withvarious inputs (e.g., controls, functions). In response to the position,movements and/or interactions, the AR system may cause correspondinginputs to be provided to a computer or some other device.

FIG. 33A shows a ring totem 3302, according one illustrated embodiment.

In particular, the ring totem 3302 has a tubular portion and aninteraction portion physically coupled to the tubular portion. Thetubular and interaction portions may be integral, and may be formed asor from a single unitary structure. The tubular portion has an innerdiameter sized large enough to receive a finger of a user there through.The inner diameter may be sized small enough to prevent the totem 3302from sliding off the finger during normal use. This allows the ringtotem 3302 to be comfortably worn even when not in active use, ensuringavailability when needed. The ring totem 3302 may have no physical keys,physical switches or physical electronics.

Notably, the virtual user interface (e.g., 3104 shown in FIGS. 31A and31B) is omitted from FIG. 31C. The AR system may render a virtual userinterface in any of a large variety of forms. For example, the AR systemmay render a virtual user interface in the user's field of view as toappear as if the virtual user interface element(s) reside on theinteraction surface. Alternatively, the AR system may render a virtualuser interface as the flower petal-shaped virtual user interface 3104previously illustrated and discussed, emanating from the interactionsurface.

Similar to the above, the AR system detects or captures a user'sinteraction with the totem 3302. For example, the AR system may employone or more front facing cameras to detect a position, orientation,and/or movement (e.g., position, direction, distance, speed,acceleration) of the user's finger(s) with respect to interactionsurface in some reference frame (e.g., reference frame of theinteraction surface, real world, physical room, user's body, user'shead). For instance, the AR system may detect one or more locations oftouches or a change in position of a finger on the interaction surface.

Again, as discussed above, the AR system may also employ the frontfacing camera(s) to detect interactions (e.g., tap, double tap, shorttap, long tap, fingertip grip, enveloping grasp) of a user's fingerswith the interaction surface of the totem. The AR system maps theposition, orientation, and/or movement of the finger with respect to theinteraction surface to a set of user selections or inputs. The AR systemoptionally maps other user interactions (e.g., number of interactions,types of interactions, duration of interactions) with the interactionsurface of the totem, and hence with various inputs (e.g., controls,functions). In response to the position, orientation, movement, and/orother interactions, the AR system may cause corresponding inputs to beprovided to a computer or some other device.

Additionally or alternatively, as discussed above, the AR system mayrender the virtual user interface differently in response to select userinteractions. For instance, some user interactions may correspond toselection of a particular submenu, application or function. The ARsystem may respond to such selection by rendering a new set of virtualinterface elements, based at least in part on the selection. Forinstance, the AR system render a submenu or a menu or other virtualinterface element associated with the selected application or functions.

FIG. 33B shows a bracelet totem 3304, according one illustratedembodiment.

In particular, the bracelet totem 3304 has a tubular portion and a touchsurface physically coupled to the tubular portion. The tubular portionand touch surface may be integral, and may be formed as or from a singleunitary structure. The tubular portion has an inner diameter sized largeenough to receive a wrist or other limb of a user. The inner diametermay be sized small enough to prevent the totem 3304 from sliding off thelimb during use. For example, the inner diameter may be sized tocomfortably receive a wrist of a user, while not sliding past a hand ofthe user. This allows the bracelet totem 3304 to be worn whether inactive use or not, ensuring availability when desired. The bracelettotem 3304 may have no physical keys, physical switches or physicalelectronics.

Notably, the virtual user interface is omitted from FIG. 31C. The ARsystem may render a virtual user interface in any of a large variety offorms. For example, the AR system may render a virtual user interface inthe user's field of view as to appear as if the virtual user interfaceelement(s) reside on the touch surface. Alternatively, the AR system mayrender a virtual user interface as the flower petal-shaped virtual userinterface 3104 previously illustrated and discussed, emanating from thetouch surface.

The AR system detects or captures a user's interaction with the totem3304. For example, the AR system may employ one or more front facingcameras to detect a position, orientation, and/or movement (e.g.,position, direction, distance, speed, acceleration) of the user'sfinger(s) with respect to touch surface in some reference frame (e.g.,reference frame of the touch surface, real world, physical room, user'sbody, user's head). For instance, the AR system may detect one or morelocations of touches or a change in position of a finger on the touchsurface.

As discussed above, the AR system may also employ the front facingcamera(s) to detect interactions (e.g., tap, double tap, short tap, longtap, fingertip grip, enveloping grasp) of a user's fingers with thetouch surface of the totem. The AR system maps the position,orientation, and/or movement of the finger with respect to the touchsurface to a set of user selections or inputs. The AR system optionallymaps other user interactions (e.g., number of interactions, types ofinteractions, duration of interactions) with the touch surface of thetotem 3304, and hence with various inputs (e.g., controls, functions).In response to the position, orientation, movement, and/or otherinteractions, the AR system may cause corresponding inputs to beprovided to a computer or some other device.

Additionally or alternatively, as discussed above, the AR system mayrender the virtual user interface differently in response to select userinteractions. For instance, some user interactions may correspond toselection of a particular submenu, application or function. The ARsystem may respond to such selection by rendering a new set of virtualinterface elements, based at least in part on the selection. Forinstance, the AR system render a submenu or a menu or other virtualinterface element associated with the selected application or functions.

FIG. 33C shows a ring totem 3306, according another illustratedembodiment. In particular, the ring totem 3306 has a tubular portion andan interaction portion physically rotatably coupled to the tubularportion to rotate with respect thereto. The tubular portion has an innerdiameter sized large enough to receive a finger of a user there through.The inner diameter may be sized small enough to prevent the totem fromsliding off the finger during normal use. This allows the ring totem tobe comfortably worn even when not in active use, ensuring availabilitywhen needed.

The interaction portion may itself be a closed tubular member, having arespective inner diameter received about an outer diameter of thetubular portion. For example, the interaction portion may be journaledor slideable mounted to the tubular portion. The interaction portion isaccessible from an exterior surface of the ring totem. The interactionportion may, for example, be rotatable in a first rotational directionabout a longitudinal axis of the tubular portion. The interactionportion may additionally be rotatable in a second rotational, oppositethe first rotational direction about the longitudinal axis of thetubular portion. The ring totem 3306 may have no physical switches orphysical electronics.

The AR system may render a virtual user interface in any of a largevariety of forms. For example, the AR system may render a virtual userinterface in the user's field of view as to appear as if the virtualuser interface element(s) reside on the interaction portion.Alternatively, the AR system may render a virtual user interface as theflower petal-shaped virtual user interface previously illustrated anddiscussed, emanating from the interaction portion.

Similar to the above, the AR system detects or captures a user'sinteraction with the totem. For example, the AR system may employ one ormore front facing cameras to detect a position, orientation, and/ormovement (e.g., position, direction, distance, speed, acceleration) ofthe interaction portion with respect to the tubular portion (e.g.,finger receiving portion) in some reference frame (e.g., reference frameof the tubular portion, real world, physical room, user's body, user'shead).

For instance, the AR system may detect one or more locations ororientations or changes in position or orientation of the interactionportion with respect to the tubular portion. The AR system may alsoemploy the front facing camera(s) to detect interactions (e.g., tap,double tap, short tap, long tap, fingertip grip, enveloping grasp) of auser's fingers with the interaction portion of the totem. The AR systemmaps the position, orientation, and/or movement of the interactionportion with respect the tubular portion to a set of user selections orinputs. The AR system optionally maps other user interactions (e.g.,number of interactions, types of interactions, duration of interactions)with the interaction portion of the totem, and hence with various inputs(e.g., controls, functions). In response to the position, orientation,movement, and/or other interactions, the AR system may causecorresponding inputs to be provided to a computer or some other device.

Additionally or alternatively, as discussed above, the AR system mayrender the virtual user interface differently in response to select userinteractions. For instance, some user interactions may correspond toselection of a particular submenu, application or function. The ARsystem may respond to such selection by rendering a new set of virtualinterface elements, based at least in part on the selection.

FIG. 34A shows a glove-shaped haptic totem 3402, according oneillustrated embodiment. In particular, the glove-shaped haptic totem3102 is shaped like a glove or partial glove, having an opening forreceiving a wrist and one or more tubular glove fingers (three shown)sized to receive a user's fingers. The glove-shaped haptic totem 3102may be made of one or more of a variety of materials. The materials maybe elastomeric or may otherwise conform the shape or contours of auser's hand, providing a snug but comfortable fit.

The AR system may render a virtual user interface in any of a largevariety of forms. For example, the AR system may render a virtual userinterface in the user's field of view as to appear as if the virtualuser interface element(s) is inter-actable via the glove-shaped haptictotem 3402. For example, the AR system may render a virtual userinterface as one of the previously illustrated and/or described totemsor virtual user interfaces.

Similar to the above, the AR system detects or captures a user'sinteraction via visual tracking of the user's hand and fingers on whichthe glove-shaped haptic totem 3402 is worn. For example, the AR systemmay employ one or more front facing cameras to detect a position,orientation, and/or movement (e.g., position, direction, distance,speed, acceleration) of the user's hand and/or finger(s) with respect tosome reference frame (e.g., reference frame of the touch surface, realworld, physical room, user's body, user's head).

Similar to the above embodiments, for instance, the AR system may detectone or more locations of touches or a change in position of a handand/or fingers. The AR system may also employ the front facing camera(s)to detect interactions (e.g., tap, double tap, short tap, long tap,fingertip grip, enveloping grasp) of a user's hands and/or fingers.Notably, the AR system may track the glove-shaped haptic totem insteadof the user's hands and fingers. The AR system maps the position,orientation, and/or movement of the hand and/or fingers to a set of userselections or inputs. The AR system optionally maps other userinteractions (e.g., number of interactions, types of interactions,duration of interactions), and hence with various inputs (e.g.,controls, functions). In response to the position, orientation,movement, and/or other interactions, the AR system may causecorresponding inputs to be provided to a computer or some other device.

Additionally or alternatively, as discussed above, the AR system mayrender the virtual user interface differently in response to select userinteractions. For instance, some user interactions may correspond toselection of a particular submenu, application or function. The ARsystem may respond to such selection by rendering a new set of virtualinterface elements, based at least in part on the selection. Forinstance, the AR system render a submenu or a menu or other virtualinterface element associated with the selected application or functions.

The glove-shaped haptic totem 3402 includes a plurality of actuators,which are responsive to signals to provide haptic sensations such aspressure and texture. The actuators may take any of a large variety offorms, for example piezoelectric elements, and/or micro electricalmechanical structures (MEMS).

The AR system provides haptic feedback to the user via the glove-shapedhaptic totem 3402. In particular, the AR system provides signals to theglove-shaped haptic totem to replicate a sensory sensation ofinteracting with a physical object which a virtual object may represent.Such may include providing a sense of pressure and/or texture associatedwith a physical object. Thus, the AR system may cause a user to feel apresence of a virtual object, for example including various structuralfeatures of the physical object such as edges, corners, roundness, etc.The AR system may also cause a user to feel textures such as smooth,rough, dimpled, etc.

FIG. 34B shows a stylus or brush shaped totem 3404, according oneillustrated embodiment. The stylus or brush shaped totem 3404 includesan elongated handle, similar to that of any number of conventionalstylus or brush. In contrast to conventional stylus or brush, the stylusor brush has a virtual tip or bristles. In particular, the AR system mayrender a desired style of virtual tip or bristle to appear at an end ofthe physical stylus or brush 3404. The tip or bristle may take anyconventional style including narrow or wide points, flat bristlebrushed, tapered, slanted or cut bristle brushed, natural fiber bristlebrushes (e.g., horse hair), artificial fiber bristle brushes, etc. Thisadvantageously allows the virtual tip or bristles to be replaceable.

Similar to the above, the AR system detects or captures a user'sinteraction via visual tracking of the user's hand and/or fingers on thestylus or brush and/or via visual tracking of the end of the stylus orbrush. For example, the AR system may employ one or more front facingcameras to detect a position, orientation, and/or movement (e.g.,position, direction, distance, speed, acceleration) of the user's handand/or finger(s) and/or end of the stylus or brush with respect to somereference frame (e.g., reference frame of a piece of media, the realworld, physical room, user's body, user's head). For instance, the ARsystem may detect one or more locations of touches or a change inposition of a hand and/or fingers. Also for instance, the AR system maydetect one or more locations of the end of the stylus or brush and/or anorientation of the end of the stylus or brush with respect to, forexample, a piece of media or totem representing a piece of media. The ARsystem may additionally or alternatively detect one or more change inlocations of the end of the stylus or brush and/or change in orientationof the end of the stylus or brush with respect to, for example, thepiece of media or totem representing the piece of media.

As discussed above, the AR system may also employ the front facingcamera(s) to detect interactions (e.g., tap, double tap, short tap, longtap, fingertip grip, enveloping grasp) of a user's hands and/or fingersor of the stylus or brush. The AR system maps the position, orientation,and/or movement of the hand and/or fingers and/or end of the stylus orbrush to a set of user selections or inputs. The AR system optionallymaps other user interactions (e.g., number of interactions, types ofinteractions, duration of interactions), and hence with various inputs(e.g., controls, functions). In response to the position, orientation,movement, and/or other interactions, the AR system may causecorresponding inputs to be provided to a computer or some other device.

Additionally or alternatively, the AR system may render a virtual imageof markings made by the user using the stylus or brush 3404, taking intoaccount the visual effects that would be achieved by the selected tip orbristles.

The stylus or brush may have one or more haptic elements (e.g.,piezoelectric elements, MEMS elements), which the AR system control toprovide a sensation (e.g., smooth, rough, low friction, high friction)that replicate a feel of a selected point or bristles, as the selectedpoint or bristles pass over media. The sensation may also reflect orreplicate how the end or bristles would interact with different types ofphysical aspects of the media, which may be selected by the user. Thus,paper and canvass may produce two different haptic responses.

FIG. 34C shows a pen shaped totem 3406, according one illustratedembodiment. The pen shaped totem 3406 includes an elongated shaft,similar to that of any number of conventional pen, pencil, stylus orbrush. The pen shaped totem 3406 has a user actuatable joy or thumbsticklocated at one end of the shaft. The joy or thumbstick is moveable withrespect to the elongated shaft in response to user actuation. The joy orthumbstick may, for example, be pivotally movable in four directions(e.g., forward, back, left, right). Alternatively, the joy or thumbstickmay, for example, be movable in all directions four directions, or maybe pivotally moveable in any angular direction in a circle, for exampleto navigate. Notably, the joy or thumbstick is not coupled to any switchor electronics.

Instead of coupling the joy or thumbstick to a switch or electronics,the AR system detects or captures a position, orientation, or movementof the joy or thumbstick. For example, the AR system may employ one ormore front facing cameras to detect a position, orientation, and/ormovement (e.g., position, direction, distance, speed, acceleration) ofthe joy or thumbstick with respect to some reference frame (e.g.,reference frame of the elongated shaft.

Additionally, as discussed above, the AR system may employ one or morefront facing cameras to detect a position, orientation, and/or movement(e.g., position, direction, distance, speed, acceleration) of the user'shand and/or finger(s) and/or end of the pen shaped totem with respect tosome reference frame (e.g., reference frame of the elongated shaft, of apiece of media, the real world, physical room, user's body, user'shead).

For instance, the AR system may detect one or more locations of touchesor a change in position of a hand and/or fingers. Also for instance, theAR system may detect one or more locations of the end of the pen shapedtotem and/or an orientation of the end of the pen shaped totem withrespect to, for example, a piece of media or totem representing a pieceof media. The AR system may additionally or alternatively detect one ormore change in locations of the end of the pen shaped totem and/orchange in orientation of the end of the pen shaped totem with respectto, for example, the piece of media or totem representing the piece ofmedia.

Similar to the above, the AR system may also employ the front facingcamera(s) to detect interactions (e.g., tap, double tap, short tap, longtap, fingertip grip, enveloping grasp) of a user's hands and/or fingerswith the joy or thumbstick or the elongated shaft of the pen shapedtotem. The AR system maps the position, orientation, and/or movement ofthe hand and/or fingers and/or end of the joy or thumbstick to a set ofuser selections or inputs. The AR system optionally maps other userinteractions (e.g., number of interactions, types of interactions,duration of interactions), and hence with various inputs (e.g.,controls, functions). In response to the position, orientation,movement, and/or other interactions, the AR system may causecorresponding inputs to be provided to a computer or some other device.

Additionally or alternatively, as discussed above, the AR system mayrender a virtual image of markings made by the user using the pen shapedtotem 3406, taking into account the visual effects that would beachieved by the selected tip or bristles.

The pen shaped totem 3406 may have one or more haptic elements (e.g.,piezoelectric elements, MEMS elements), which the AR system control toprovide a sensation (e.g., smooth, rough, low friction, high friction)that replicate a feel of passing over media.

FIG. 35A shows a charm chain totem 3502, according one illustratedembodiment. The charm chain totem 3502 includes a chain and a number ofcharms. The chain may include a plurality of interconnected links whichprovides flexibility to the chain. The chain may also include a closureor clasp which allows opposite ends of the chain to be securely coupledtogether. The chain and/or clasp may take a large variety of forms, forexample single strand, multi-strand, links or braided. The chain and/orclasp may be formed of any variety of metals, or other non-metallicmaterials. A length of the chain should accommodate a portion of auser's limb when the two ends are clasped together. The length of thechain should also be sized to ensure that the chain is retained, evenloosely, on the portion of the limb when the two ends are claspedtogether. The chain may be worn as a bracket on a wrist of an arm or onan ankle of a leg. The chain may be worn as a necklace about a neck. Thecharms may take any of a large variety of forms. The charms may have avariety of shapes, although will typically take the form of plates ordiscs. While illustrated with generally rectangular profiles, the charmsmay have any variety of profiles, and different charms on a single chainmay have respective profiles which differ from one another. The charmsmay be formed of any of a large variety of metals, or non-metallicmaterials.

Each charm may bear an indicia, which is logically associable in atleast one computer- or processor-readable non-transitory storage mediumwith a function, category of functions, category of content or mediatypes, and/or tools or applications which is accessible via the ARsystem.

FIG. 35B shows a keychain totem 3504, according one illustratedembodiment. The keychain totem 3504 includes a chain and a number ofkeys. The chain may include a plurality of interconnected links whichprovides flexibility to the chain. The chain may also include a closureor clasp which allows opposite ends of the chain to be securely coupledtogether. The chain and/or clasp may take a large variety of forms, forexample single strand, multi-strand, links or braided. The chain and/orclasp may be formed of any variety of metals, or other non-metallicmaterials.

The keys may take any of a large variety of forms. The keys may have avariety of shapes, although will typically take the form of conventionalkeys, either with or without ridges and valleys (e.g., teeth). In someimplementations, the keys may open corresponding mechanical locks, whilein other implementations the keys only function as totems and do notopen mechanical locks. The keys may have any variety of profiles, anddifferent keys on a single chain may have respective profiles whichdiffer from one another. The keys may be formed of any of a largevariety of metals, or non-metallic materials. Various keys may bedifferent colors from one another.

Each key may bear an indicia, which is logically associable in at leastone computer- or processor-readable non-transitory storage medium with afunction, category of functions, category of content or media types,and/or tools or applications which is accessible via the AR system.

As discussed above, the AR system detects or captures a user'sinteraction with the keys. For example, the AR system may employ one ormore front facing cameras to detect touching or manipulation of the keysby the user's fingers or hands. For instance, the AR system may detect aselection of a particular key by the user touching the respective keywith their finger or grasping the respective key with two or morefingers. Further, the AR may detect a position, orientation, and/ormovement (e.g., rotational direction, magnitude of rotation, angularspeed, angular acceleration) of a key with respect to some referenceframe (e.g., reference frame of the portion of the body, real world,physical room, user's body, user's head). The AR system may also employthe front facing camera(s) to detect other interactions (e.g., tap,double tap, short tap, long tap, fingertip grip, enveloping grasp) of auser's fingers with a key.

As discussed above, the AR system maps selection of the key to userselections or inputs, for instance selection of a social mediaapplication. The AR system optionally maps other user interactions(e.g., number of interactions, types of interactions, duration ofinteractions) with the key, and hence with various inputs (e.g.,controls, functions) with the corresponding application. In response tothe touching, manipulation or other interactions with the keys, the ARsystem may cause corresponding applications to be activated and/orprovide corresponding inputs to the applications.

Additionally or alternatively, similar to the above embodiments, the ARsystem may render the virtual user interface differently in response toselect user interactions. For instance, some user interactions maycorrespond to selection of a particular submenu, application orfunction. The AR system may respond to such selection by rendering a setof virtual interface elements, based at least in part on the selection.For instance, the AR system render a submenu or a menu or other virtualinterface element associated with the selected application or functions.

Referring now to FIG. 36, an example method 3600 of using totems isdescribed. At 3602, a user's interaction with a totem is detected and/orcaptured. For example, the interaction may be captured based on inputsfrom the haptic glove, or through the front-facing cameras. At 3604, theAR system may detect a position, orientation and/or movement of thetotem with respect to a given reference frame. The reference frame maybe a predetermined reference frame that allows the AR system tocalculate how much the totem has moved, in order to understand a usercommand. At 3606, the user's interaction (e.g.,position/orientation/movement against reference frame) is consulted witha map stored in the system. In one or more embodiments, the map may be a1:1 map that correlates certain movements/positions or orientations witha particular user input. Other mapping tables and/or techniques may besimilarly used in other embodiments. At 3608, the AR system maydetermine the user input based on the mapping.

In one or more embodiments, the AR system may identify an object as atotem. The object may be a real object or a virtual object. Typically,the totem may be a pre-designated object, for example, a set of keys, ora virtual set of keys, that may be displayed as a totem. In one or moreembodiments, the user may have selected a totem. Or, if the totem is areal object, the system may have captured one or more images/and orother data about the totem, to recognize it in the future. Further, theAR system may request the user to “set up” the totem such that thesystem understands commands that are made in relation to the totem. Forexample, a center part of the totem may be pressed to indicate aparticular command. This requires the system to be pre-programmed tounderstand that command.

In one or more embodiments, a reference frame of the totem may becorrelated against a reference frame of the world to understand certaincommands. For example, the system must recognize the user's handmovement (in one embodiment) in relation to the totem. In one or moreembodiments, the AR system tracks an interaction of the user with thetotem (e.g., hand movements, totem movements, eye movements, etc.). Whenan interaction matches a predetermined interaction (e.g., a pattern ofmovements, a speed of movement, a direction of movement, a force oftouch, a proximity to another object, etc.), the system may determine auser input, and understand a command, in response to the determined userinput.

Light Wavefront and Sound Wavefront:

In one or more embodiments, the AR\ system may produce a sound wavefrontthat is the analog of the light wavefront, producing a realistic soundfield. In some implementations, the AR system may adjust microphone gainin the sound range dynamically to mix real physical players with virtualplayers in the virtual space. In other words, the AR system produces arealistic sound wavefront such that an emanating sound from a particularobject (e.g., a virtual object, etc.) matches the light field.

For example, if the virtual object is depicted such that it appears fromfar away, the sound emanating from the object should not be constant,but rather mimic the sound that would come from the object if it wereapproaching from far away. Since the light field of the AR systemproduces a realistic visual experience of the virtual object, the soundwavefront of the AR system is also modified to realistically depictsound. For example, if the virtual object is approaching from behind,the sound coming from the virtual object will be different than if itwere simply approaching from the front side. Or if the virtual object isapproaching from the right side, the sound may be modified such that theuser instinctively turns to the right to look at the virtual object.Thus, it can be appreciated that modifying the sound wavefront torealistically depict sounds may improve the overall experience of the ARsystem.

The sound wavefront may also depend on the user's physical location. Forexample, natural sounds are perceived differently if the user is in acathedral (e.g., there may be an echo, etc.), as compared to when theuser is in an open space. The AR system is configured to capture localand ambient sound for game-engine driven reproduction.

Referring now to FIG. 37, an example method 3700 of producing anappropriate sound wavefront is described. At 3702, the AR systemdetermines the head pose of the user. Next, at 3704, the AR systemdetermines a location of the virtual object to be display to the user,and the pose of the user in relation to it. In other words, the systemdetermines how the sound from the virtual object will be perceived bythe user. Next, at 3706, the appropriate sound data to be projected tothe user and related metadata is retrieved. This information may be runthrough a sound design tool. Next, at 3708, the sound may be equalized.Next, at 3710, the sound may be run through a spatial and proximitysound render to ensure that the sound accounts for the spatial locationof the virtual object to the user, and their proximity. This may then berun through a binaural virtualizer (3712) before eventually beinggenerated as sound to the headphones of the individual AR device of theuser, at 3714.

Referring now to FIG. 38, a block diagram showing various components ofthe sound design system is provided. As shown in FIG. 38, head poseinformation 3818 may be used determine object and listener pose 3820.This information, once determined may be fed into a spatial andproximity sound render module 3802.

The object and listener pose 3820 may be fed into sound data module3822, which may comprise various sound data files which may be stored ina database, in one or more embodiments. The sound data module 3822 mayinteract with a sound design tool 3824 (e.g., FMOD Studio, etc.) toprovide sound design filters etc. by which to manipulate the sound datafiles.

The sound and metadata 3822 may be fed into an equalization module 3814,which may also be fed with channel-based content 3816. The equalizedsound may also be fed into the spatial and proximity render module 3802.

In one or more embodiments, a 3D head model transfer function 3810 and adynamically created space model (e.g., space transfer function) are alsoinputted to the spatial and proximity sound render module 3802. In oneor more embodiments, the spatial and proximity sound render module 3802may also receive inputs about sounds from canned spaces. The transferfunctions may manipulate the sound data by applying transforms based onthe user's head pose and the virtual object information received from3818 and 3820 respectively.

In one or more embodiments, the spatial and proximity sound rendermodule 3802 interacts with the binaural virtualizer 3804, and the soundis finally outputted to the user's headphones 3806.

In one or more embodiments, the AR system may determine a head pose of auser to determine how to manipulate an audio object. The audio objectmay be tied to a virtual object (e.g., the audio is supposed to comefrom the virtual object, or may be located at a different place, but isassociated with the virtual object). The audio object may be associatedwith the virtual object based on perceived location, such that the audioobject (sound data) emanates from a perceived location of the virtualobject. The AR system knows the perceived location of the virtual object(e.g., the map, the passable world model, etc.), so the AR system mayplace the audio object at the same location. Based on the perceivedlocation and/or determined location of the audio object in relation tothe user's head pose, the sound data may go through a sound designalgorithm to be dynamically altered such that the sound appears to becoming from a place of origin of the virtual object, in one or moreembodiments.

In one or more embodiments, the AR system may intentionally use variousvisual and/or audio triggers to initiate user head-motion. The AR systemmay select a trigger (e.g., virtual visual cue or virtual sound cue) andrender the virtual visual image or sound cue to appear to emanate fromthe user's periphery (e.g., displace from front or direction that theuser is facing). For example, if rendering a light field into an eye,non-image forming optics on the side or periphery may render visual cuesor triggers to appear in the user's peripheral vision and causes a userto turn the user's head in desired direction. Additionally oralternatively, the AR system may render a spatialized sound field, withwave front synthesis on sounds, with an audio or aural cue or triggerthat appears out of the field of view of the user, again causing theuser to turn in desired direction.

Other UI Hardware Components

In one or more embodiments, the AR system may employ pseudo-hapticgloves that provide sensations of pressures and/or vibrations that aretied against the physical object. The tactile effect may, for example,be akin to running a hand through a bubble.

For example, if a vibration is introduced onto a finger, a user mayinterpret that vibration as a texture. The pseudo-haptic glove mayprovide tactile sensations that replicate the feel of hard physicalobjects, soft physical objects, and physical objects that are fuzzy. Thepseudo-haptic glove selectively produces the sensation of both pressureand vibration.

It should be appreciated that the glove is not haptic per se. Forexample, if there is a massless object (e.g., bubble) floating in space,the user can feel the tactile sensation of touching the massless object.The user can change the tactile sensation of touching the virtualobject, for example a texture oriented sensation rather than a firmnessoriented sensation. For example, if a user passes a hand through abubble, the user feels some tactile sensation although the user will notfeel the sensation of grabbing a physical object. A similar approach toproviding tactile sensations may be implemented in other wearableportions or components of the AR system (e.g., head-mounted AR devices).The glove and/or other components may use a variety of differentactuators, for example piezoelectric actuators.

Thus, a user may feel as if the user is able to touch massless virtualobjects directly. For instance, if a virtual object is “sitting” on atable, a consistent UX element may provide the user with aproprioceptive tactile interaction. For example, if a user grabs orgrasps a particular handle close to a door, using a handle as acoordinate frame for the virtual object may be very intuitive. Thisallows a user to pick up physical things and actually feel a particularphysical sensation, even though it is a tactile proxy hand.

Head worn components of individual AR systems may include sensors todetective when earphones or ear buds are positioned proximate, on or inthe ears of a user. The AR system may use any of a large variety ofsensors, for example capacitive sensors, pressure sensors, electricalresistance sensors, etc. In response to detection of the earphones orear buds being in place, the AR system may route sound via the earphonesor ear buds. In response to a failure to detect of the earphones or earbuds being in place, the AR system may route sound through conventionalstandalone speakers.

In one or more embodiments, the AR system may employ a composite camera.The composite camera may comprise a plurality of chip-level camerasmounted on or carried by a flexible substrate, for instance a flexibleprinted circuit board substrate. The flexible substrate may be put overan anvil and potted with potting compound, to inexpensively form anessentially single wide angle lens.

For example, tiny cameras may be built with a layer approach, usingwafer level technology. For instance, a plurality of VGA pads may beformed on a flexible substrate for communicatively coupling thesecameras. The flexible substrate with cameras may be stretched over ananvil, and fixed for instance via an adhesive. This provides aninexpensive set of VGA cameras that have optically nice field of view ofapproximately 60 degree or 70 degrees. This approach advantageouslyemploys a flat process, and then because of the way imaging algorithmswork, just stretches the flexible substrate over an anvil. The resultantstructure provides the equivalent of a wide field of view camera from apixel count image quality perspective, but with overlapping ornon-overlapping fields of view. A plurality of two or three elementwafer level of cameras can replace a specific wide field of view lensthat has five or six elements, while still achieving the same field ofview as the wide field of view camera.

Avatars

The AR system may render virtual representations of users or otherentities, referred to as avatars, as described in some detail above. TheAR system may render an avatar of a user in the user's own virtualspaces, and/or in the virtual spaces of other user's.

In some implementations, the AR system may allow an avatar to operate avirtual machine, for example a virtual robot, to operate in anenvironment. For example, the AR system may render an avatar to appearto “jump” into a robot, to allow the avatar to physically change anenvironment, then allow the avatar to jump back out of the robot. Thisapproach allows time multiplexing of a physical asset.

For instance, the AR system may render an avatar of a first user toappear in virtual space of a second user in which there is a virtualrobot. The “visiting” avatar of the first user enters into a body of therobot in the second user's virtual space. The first user can manipulatethe second user's virtual environment via the virtual robot. If anotheravatar was previously residing in robot, that other avatar is removed toallow the avatar of the first user to enter or inhabit the robot. Theother avatar originally inhabiting the robot and being removed from therobot may become a remote avatar, visiting some other virtual space. Theavatar originally inhabiting the robot may reenter the robot once theavatar of the first user is done using the robot.

The AR system may render an avatar presence in a virtual space with noinstrumentation, and allow virtual interaction. The passable world modelallows a first user to pass a second user a copy of the first user'ssection of the world (e.g., a level that runs locally). If the seconduser's individual AR system is performing local rendering, all the firstuser's individual AR system needs to send is the skeletal animation.

It should be appreciated that the AR system may allow for a continuityor spectrum of avatar rendering.

At its simplest, the AR system can drive inferential avatar rendering ina manner similar to driving a character in multi-player online games.The resulting avatar may be rendered with the appearance of a gamecharacter (e.g., animation), walking around in a virtual world. In thatimplementation, the only data coming from the user associated with theavatar is velocity and direction of travel, and possibly simplemovements for instance hand motions, etc.

Next in complexity, an avatar may resemble a physical appearance of theassociated user, and may include updating of the avatar based oninformation collected from the associated user in real-time. Forexample, an image of a first user's face may have been captured orpre-scanned for use in generating the avatar. The avatar may have a facethat appears either as realistic representation (e.g., photographic) oras a recognizable representation (e.g., drawn, cartoonish or caricature)The body of the avatar may, for example, be drawn, cartoonish orcaricature, and may even be out of portion with the head of the avatar.

The AR system may employ information collected from the first user toanimate the avatar in real-time. For example, a head worn component ofthe individual AR system may include one or more inward facing camerasand/or microphones or other sensors (e.g., temperature, perspiration,heat rate, blood pressure, breathing rate) to collect real-timeinformation or data from the first user. The information may includeimages and sound, including vocals with the inflections, etc.

Voice may be passed through to appear to be emanating from the avatar.In some implementations in which the avatar has a realistic face, thefacial images may also be passed through. Where the avatar does not havea realistic face, the AR system may discern facial expressions from theimages and/or inflections in voice from the sound. The AR system mayupdate facial expressions of the avatar based on the discerned facialexpressions and/or inflections in voice. For example, the AR system maydetermine an emotion state (e.g., happy, sad, angry, content,frustrated, satisfied) of the first user based on the facial expressionsand/or inflections. The AR system may select a facial expression torender on the avatar based on the determined emotion state of the firstuser. For example, the AR system may select from a number of animationor graphical representations of emotion. Thus, the AR system may employreal time texture mapping to render emotional state of a user on anavatar that represents the user.

Next in complexity, the AR system may collect information about portionsof a user's body in addition to, or other than, the user's face orvoice. For example, the AR system may collect information representativeof movement of one or more limbs of the user and/or of the user's entirebody. The AR system may collect such information via user worn sensors(e.g., accelerometers, gyros) and/or via a room sensor system whichmonitors at least a portion of a physical space in which the user islocated.

The AR system uses the collected information to render the entire bodyof the avatar in a way that reflects that actual movement of the userwhich the avatar represents. The AR system may perform functions suchalong with real-time texture mapping, applying images (e.g., video) tothe avatar.

In an even more complex implementation, the AR system may include one ormore light field cameras which capture a light field of the user inphysical space. The second user may view a live real three-dimensionalimage of the first user with sound, which is more realistic then thepreviously described implementations.

In a most complex implementation, the AR system may include one or morelight field cameras which capture a light field of the user in physicalspace. The AR system may code the captured light field into a model, andsend the model to an individual AR system of a second user for renderinginto the second user's virtual space.

Inferential Avatar Rendering

As discussed above, an AR system may use head, hand, environment pose,voice inflection, and/or eye gaze to animate or modify a user's virtualself or avatar in a space. The AR system may infer a location of auser's avatar simply based on a position of the user's head and/or handswith respect to the environment. The AR system may statistically processvoice inflection (e.g., not content of utterances), and animate ormodify an emotional expression of the corresponding avatar to reflect anemotion of the respective user which the avatar represents. For example,if a user has selected an avatar that resembles a pumpkin, in responseto detecting patterns in the user's voice that indicate anger, the ARsystem may render teeth in a mouth cutout of the pumpkin avatar. As afurther example, a user may have an avatar that resembles the Pikachu®character. In response to detection of vocal inflections that indicateinquisitiveness, the AR system may render the Pikachu® resemblingavatar, for instance with mouth moving and eyes are looking around issame manner as the user's mouth and eyes, etc.

A rendering of a user's respective virtual space or environment isasynchronous. An exchange of a relatively small amount of informationallows a first user to experience being in another's user's space, orexperience having another user in the first user's space. If the firstuser has a copy of the second user's space, the first user can appear inthe second user's space, with control over their own viewpoint of thesecond user's space, as well as control over their own interactionswithin the second user's space. Animating an avatar using a subset ofinformation, without instrumentation, provides for scalability.

Avatar Navigation Objects

The AR system can provide for autonomous navigation of virtual objectsthrough an environment. Where the virtual objects constitute avatars,various emotional states of the avatar may be taken into accountautonomously navigating through a space the avatar is inhabiting.

As illustrated in FIG. 39, the AR system may include a collection orlibrary of autonomous navigation definitions or objects 2300 a-2300 d(collectively 2300), which sense and are responsive in predefined waysto certain defined conditions which may occur or be sensed in thevirtual space or environment. The autonomous navigation definitions orobjects are each associated with a condition or stimulus which may occuror be sensed in a virtual space or environment.

An autonomous navigation definition or object 2300 a may be responsiveto, for example, a presence of structure (e.g., a wall). An autonomousnavigation definition or object 2300 b may be responsive to, forexample, light or a source of light (e.g., luminaire, window). Anautonomous navigation definition or object 2300 c may be responsive to,for example, sound or a source of sound (e.g., bell, siren, whistle,voice). An autonomous navigation definition or object 2300 d may beresponsive to, for example, food or water or a source of food or water.Other autonomous navigation definitions or objects (not shown in FIG.39) may be responsive to other conditions or stimuli, for instance asource of fear (e.g., monster, weapon, fire, cliff), source of food,source of water, treasure, money, gems, precious metals, etc.

The autonomous navigation definitions or objects 2300 are eachassociated with a defined response. Autonomous navigation definitions orobjects respond, for example by causing or tending to cause movement.For example, some autonomous navigation definitions or objects 2300cause or tend to cause movement away from a source of a condition orstimulus. Also for example, some autonomous navigation objects 2300cause or tend to cause movement toward a source of a condition orstimulus.

At least some of the autonomous navigation definitions or objects 2300have one or more adjustable parameters. The adjustable parameters do notchange the fundamental conditions or stimulus to which the autonomousnavigation definitions or objects 2300 react, but may set a sensitivitylevel and/or level or strength of response to the conditions or stimuli.The AR system may provide one or more user interface tools for adjustingproperties. For example, a user interface tool (e.g., slider bar icons,knob icons) may allow for scaling the properties, inverting theproperties (e.g., move towards, move away), etc.

The adjustable parameters may, for example, set a level of sensitivityof the autonomous navigation definition or object 2300 to the conditionsor stimulus to which the autonomous navigation definition or object isresponsive. For example, a sensitivity parameter may be set to a lowlevel, at which the autonomous navigation definition or object 2300 isnot very responsive to an occurrence of a condition or presence of astimulus, for instance not responding until a source of a condition orstimulus is very close.

Also for example, a sensitivity parameter may be set to a high level, atwhich the autonomous navigation definition or object 2300 is veryresponsive to an occurrence of a condition or presence of a stimulus,for instance responding even when a source of a condition or stimulus isnot very close. Levels in between the low and high levels may also beemployed. In some implementations, the level of sensitivity may beconsidered as a range of sensitivity. Such may set an outer boundary atwhich the autonomous navigation definition or object 2300 is sensitive,or may set a gradient in sensitivity, which may be linear, exponential,or even a step function with one or more distinct steps in sensitivity.

The adjustable parameters may, for example, set a level of response ofthe autonomous navigation definition or object 2300 to the conditions orstimulus to which the autonomous navigation definition or object 2300 isresponsive. For example, a parameter may adjust a strength at which theautonomous navigation definition or object 2300 responds to anoccurrence of a condition or stimulus. For instance, a parameter may seta strength of a tendency or likelihood to move. For example, a tendencyparameter may be set to a low level, at which the autonomous navigationdefinition or object 2300 is not very responsive an occurrence of acondition or presence of a stimulus.

Also for example, the tendency parameter may be set to a high level, atwhich the autonomous navigation definition or object 2300 is veryresponsive an occurrence of a condition or presence of a stimulus, andwill strongly cause movement either toward or away from the source of acondition or stimulus. A speed parameter may set a speed at which theautonomous navigation definition or object 2300 moves in response todetection of the condition or stimulus. The speed may be a fixed speedor a variable speed which changes with time (e.g., slowing down 5seconds after response starts) or distance (e.g., slowing down aftermoving a fixed distance). A direction parameter may set a direction ofmovement (e.g., toward, away).

While autonomous navigation definitions or objects 2300 may beresponsive to conditions and stimuli in a two-dimensional area, in someimplementations the autonomous navigation definitions or objects 2300are responsive to conditions and stimuli in a three-dimensional volume.Some autonomous navigation definitions or objects 2300 may be isotropic,that is detecting and responding to conditions occurring in alldirections relative to the autonomous navigation object 2300. Someautonomous navigation definitions or objects 2300 may be anisotropic,that is detecting and responding to conditions occurring in only limiteddirections relative to the autonomous navigation definition or object.Isotropic or anisotropic operation may be an adjustable parameter forsome autonomous navigation definitions or objects 2300.

The autonomous navigation definitions or objects 2300 may be predefined,and selectable by a user or others. In some implementations, a user maydefine new autonomous navigation definitions or objects 2300, andoptionally incorporate the new autonomous navigation definitions orobjects into a collection or library for reuse by the user or for use byothers.

As illustrated in FIG. 40, one or more autonomous navigation definitionsor objects 2300 a, 2300 c are logically associable to a virtual object2400, for example to an avatar. When logically associated with a virtualobject 2400, the autonomous navigation definitions or objects 2300 a,2300 c may be plotted as a body centered coordinate frame about thevirtual object 2400. That is the center of the autonomous navigationdefinition or object 2300 a, 2300 c is the center of the body of thevirtual object 2400 itself. The autonomous navigation definitions orobjects 2300 may be scaled, for example with a logarithmic function orsome other function that for instance scales infinity to 1 and proximityto 0.

The autonomous navigation definitions or objects 2300 are eachindependent from one another. Any number of autonomous navigationdefinitions or objects 2300 can be associated or applied to a virtualobject 2400. For example, thousands of autonomous navigation definitionsor objects 2300 may be applied to a single virtual object 2400.

FIG. 41 shows a set or “stack” 2500 of autonomous navigation definitionsor objects 2300 which are logically associated with a given virtualobject 2400, and which can be arranged as rings about the virtual object2400, for example as illustrated in FIG. 40. Once a set or stack 2500 ofautonomous navigation objects 2300 a-2300 d has been defined, andcomposited, as indicated by summing line 2540 (FIG. 41), values of theautonomous navigation definitions or objects 2300 are normalized to bebetween zero and one.

As noted, some properties of at least some of the autonomous navigationobjects 2300 may be adjustable. Those properties may include a level ofsensitivity as wells as a strength of response. While the types (e.g.,condition or stimulus) of autonomous navigation definitions or objects2300 available may be fixed, a user can composite 2540 the autonomousnavigation definitions or objects 2300 to provide a composite orcombined output 2442 (FIG. 41). The composite mechanism may, forexample, look for a lowest value, in one or more embodiments. In othercases, the trigger may be a high value, depending on the application.

The composite mechanism could, for example, treat the autonomousnavigation definition or object 2300 a that is responsive to a presenceof a structure (e.g., sonar or collision detection) as a filter (e.g.,binary outcome, pass/do not pass, ON/OFF), and treat all of otherautonomous navigation definition or object 2300 b-2300 d as scalingfactors. For example, the composite 2442 of one or more autonomousnavigation definitions or objects 2300 may perform a peak detection on avalue or shape (e.g., what is the maximal distance away from center),and provide an indication of a direction and magnitude of velocity(indicated by vector 2544) that the virtual object 2400 should travel inresponse to the detected condition(s) or stimuli.

The strength of response or action of an autonomous navigationdefinition or object may be represented as a potential field. Forexample, a potential field may define a tendency to attract or repel anavatar. For instance, the AR system may establish a convention in whicha positive potential field attracts an avatar, while a negativepotential repels an avatar. Alternatively, the convention may be that apositive potential field repels an avatar, while a negative potentialattracts an avatar.

As a further alternative, one type of potential field may be availableunder an established convention, which either repels or alternativelyattracts the avatar. Further, the AR system may employ a conventionwhere a potential field may be assigned a magnitude or gradient, themagnitude or gradient corresponding to a strength or attraction orrepulsion. The gradient may be a linear or nonlinear function, and mayeven include singularities. The potential field may be establishedcoincidentally with the virtual object or avatar. The potential fieldmay tend to cause an avatar to avoid a source of the condition orstimulus (e.g., sound, light) for example to steer around the source ofthe condition or stimulus.

As illustrated in FIG. 40, in one example there may be a first virtualobject 2400 which is moving in a virtual space or environment 2402. Thevirtual space or environment 2402 may include a wall 2404, which may beeither a virtual or a physical object. The virtual space or environment2402 may include a source 2406 of a sound 2408. In one or moreembodiments, the AR system may use artificial intelligence to steer thefirst virtual object 2400 toward a target, for example the source 2406of the sound 2408 in the virtual space or environment 2402 whichincludes the wall 2404, while avoiding collisions with the wall 2404.

For instance, an autonomous navigation object 2300 a that is responsiveto a presence of structures may be logically associated with the virtualobject 2400. Also for instance, an autonomous navigation object 2300 cthat is responsive to sound 2408 may be logically associated with thevirtual object 2400. The autonomous navigation objects 2300 a, 2300 cmay be defined to constitute one or more rings located about a body ofthe virtual object 2400. For example, the autonomous navigation object2300 may have a property that defines allowable movement.

For example, the autonomous navigation object 2300 a may, in thepresence of structure, limit movement that would result in a collisionwith the structure. For instance, in the presence of a flat wall 2404,the autonomous navigation object 2300 a may limit the first virtualobject 2400 to movement in a lateral direction (e.g., cannot move intothe wall), while allowing the first virtual object 2400 to move in anyother directions without limitation. Also for example, the autonomousnavigation object 2300 c may, in the presence of sound 2408, cause theassociated first virtual object 2400 to move generally towards a source2406 of the sound 2408.

The above example may be modified with the addition of a source of lightto the virtual space or environment 2402. An autonomous navigationdefinition or object 2300 b (FIG. 39) that is responsive to light may beassociated with the first virtual object 2400. Detection of light by thelight responsive autonomous navigation definition or object 2300 b maycause the first virtual object 2400 to tend to move toward the source oflight, or conversely tend to move away from the source of light. In thiscase, the first virtual object 2400 will be responsive to the compositeof three conditions, structure, sound, and light.

As described above, a set of autonomous navigation definitions orobjects may be represented arranged as rings about a virtual object(e.g., avatar) and composited together. These can be represented as astate in a state machine, and provide the virtual object to which theautonomous navigation definitions or objects are associated with travelor movement information (e.g., direction, orientation, speed, and/ordistance of travel or movement). This provides a time-based method ofinstructing a virtual object on where to travel, completelybehaviorally. In some implementations, an artificial intelligencealgorithm may be applied to tune a state to perfection, based just onempirical input data.

The AR system may provide for persistent emotion vectors (PEVs) todefine state transitions. PEVs are capable of representing variousemotions, and may have particular values at a particular state in time.In one or more embodiments, PEVs may be globally used.

A transition from state to state may be controlled by a set or stack upof the PEVs. Notably, the state machine may not need to be a completestate machine, but rather may cover only a portion of all possiblestates. A user may set up the states for the particular statetransitions that the user is interested in.

As illustrated in FIG. 42A, a set 2600 a of autonomous navigationdefinitions or objects 2300 a-2300 d associated with a given virtualobject (e.g., an avatar) 2602 a are composited to sum to a single ring2604 a. The set 2600 a may be assigned or logically associated with oneor more emotional states, for example anger 2606 a, sad 2606 b, happy,frightened, satisfied, hungry, tired, cold, hot, pleased, disappointed,etc. (collectively, 2606, only two emotional states called out in FIG.42A).

The AR system provides for user configurable summing blocks 2608 a, 2608b (only two shown collectively 2608), into which the autonomousnavigation definitions or objects 2300 a-2300 b feed. The summing block2608 drives respective emotion vectors. A user may configure the summingblocks 2608 to cause particular actions to occur. These are inherentlytime-based, and may apply global weightings based on a current state ofa virtual object 2602 a, such as an avatar.

As illustrated in FIG. 42B, a user or some other may, for example,establish a frightened or flee emotion vector. For example, a frightenedor flee autonomous navigation definition or object 2300 n may belogically associated with a virtual object (e.g., avatar) 2602 b. Thefrightened or flee autonomous navigation definition or object 2300 n maybe the only autonomous navigation definition or object 2300 in a set2600 n, and may composite 2604 n to an identity function via summingblock 2608 n.

A frightened or flee emotion vector tends to cause the virtual object(e.g., avatar) 2602 b to flee when presented with some defined conditionor stimulus, such as fright 2606 n. The frightened or flee emotionvector may typically have a relatively short time constant, and very lowthreshold. The state transition to a flee state is controlled by a stateof the global. Consequently, state transitions to a flee state when thefrightened or flee emotion vector goes low, either alone or incombination with other emotion vectors.

The AR system may employ feedback, for instance using a correlation or astatistical mechanism. For example, a correlation threshold graph 4700may be defined for any particular autonomous navigation definition orobject as illustrated in FIG. 43. The correlation threshold graph 4700may, for example, have been time plotted along a horizontal axis 4700 aand a scale (e.g., zero to one) plotted along a vertical axis 4700 b. Tocontrol a relation of an autonomous navigation definition or object onthe vertical axis, a user can specify a threshold in time tO and athreshold sensed condition or stimulus level CT. A function fn definesthe respective response once the threshold has been meet.

Thus, the AR system allows two or more autonomous navigation definitionsor objects 2300 to be summed together. The AR system may also allow auser to adjust a trigger threshold. For example, in response to aparticular combination of autonomous navigation definitions or objects2300 exceeding a certain time threshold, the value(s) of thoseautonomous navigation definitions or objects 2300 may be applied to aramping mechanism to a particular emotion vector.

The approach described herein provides a very complex artificialintelligence (AI) property by performing deterministic acts withcompletely deterministic globally visible mechanisms for transitioningfrom one state to another. These actions are implicitly map-able to abehavior that a user cares about. Constant insight through monitoring ofthese global values of an overall state of the system is required, whichallows the insertion of other states or changes to the current state. Asa further example, an autonomous navigation definition or object may beresponsive to a distance to a neighbor. The autonomous navigationdefinition or object may define a gradient around a neighbor, forexample with a steep gradient on a front portion and a shallow gradienton a back portion. This creates an automatic behavior for the associatedvirtual object. For example, as the virtual object moves, it may forinstance tend to move toward the shallow gradient rather than the steepgradient, if defined as such.

Alternatively, the virtual object may, for instance, tend to move towardthe steep gradient rather than the shallow gradient, if defined as such.The gradients may be defined to cause the virtual object to tend to movearound behind the neighbor. This might, for example, be used in a gamingenvironment where the neighbor is an enemy and the autonomous navigationobject functions as an enemy sensor. This may even take into account thedirection that the enemy is facing. For example, the value may be highif the avatar is in front. As the avatar moves, it senses a smallergradient which attracts the avatar to come up behind enemy (e.g.,flanking run behind and punch behavior).

Thus, the autonomous navigation definitions or objects 2300 areconfigured to sense states in the artificial environment, e.g., presenceof water, presence of food, slope of ground, proximity of enemy, light,sound, texture. The autonomous navigation definitions or objects 2300and PEVs allow users to compose definitions that cause virtual objectsto tend toward a behavior the user desires. This may allow users toincrementally and atomically or modularly specify an infinite level ofcomplexity by adding states, optimizing an individual state, anddefining transitions to new states.

In one or more embodiments, the AR system may associate a navigationobject with a virtual object. The navigation object may be responsive toone or more predetermined conditions (e.g., a movement, a command, astructure, an emotion, a distance, etc.). Based on the change in thenavigation object, at least one parameter of the virtual object may bechanged as well. For example, the virtual object may move faster, ormove toward another object, or exhibit a facial expression, etc.

The AR system may, in at least some implementations, advantageouslyperform optical flow analysis in hardware by finding features via animage processing unit (IPU), then finding the features frame-by-framewith a general purpose set theoretic processor (GPSTP). These componentsenable the AR system to perform some of complex computations describedthroughout this application. Further details on these components will beprovided below, but it should be appreciated that any other similarprocessing components may be similarly used, or used additionally.

A GPSTP is a search engine that efficiently finds defined objects.GPSTPs perform a set theoretic search. By way of explanation, a Venndiagram search the combinatorics can be searched in order n, rather thanfactorial order. The GPSTPs efficiently performs comparisons using settheory to find defined objects. For example, a GPSTP is an efficientstructure to find a person who meets a very specific criteria, asillustrated in the example following criteria: male who had a 1987Cadillac, purchased a Starbucks® coffee on July 31st, and who climbedMount Everest in 1983, and who has a blue shirt.

An IPU is a piece of imaging processing hardware that can take an imagein pixels and convert it into features. A feature may be thought of as apixel coordinate with meta information.

In executing optical flow algorithms and imaging, the AR systemidentifies an object in a frame and then determines where that objectappears in at least one subsequent frame. The IPU efficiently generatesfeatures, and reduces the data from pixels to a set of features. Forexample, the IPU may take a frame with mega pixels of a million pointssize, and produce a much smaller set of features (e.g., 200 features).These set of features may be provided to GPSTP for processing. The GPSTPmay store the features to be found. As discussed above, a feature is a2D point in an image with associated meta information or data. Featurescan have names or labels. The GPSTP has the n−1 features that were foundin the most previous ring.

If a match is found, the correspondence may be saved in 2D. Thisrequires only a small amount of computing for a general purposeprocessor to calculate a bundle adjust to figure out what the relativeabsolute pose was from the last frame to the current frame. It providesa hardware closed loop that is very fast and very efficient.

In a mobile computation scenario, the two pieces of hardware (IPU andGPSTP) may efficiently perform what would normally require a largeamount of conventional imaging processing.

In some implementations, the AR system may employ a meta process thatprovides timing and quality targets for every atomic module inlocalization, pose, and mapping processes. By providing each atomicmodule a timing and quality target, those modules can internally orautonomously self-regulate their algorithm to optimality. Thisadvantageously avoids the need for hard-real time operation. Themeta-controller may then pull in statistics from the atomic modules,statistically identifying the class of place in which the system isoperating. Overall system tuning configurations for various places(e.g., planes, roads, hospitals, living rooms, etc.) may be saved.

The AR system may employ a tracking module. Any piece of computerprocessing can take different amounts of time. If every module is atomicand can receive and use timing and quality data, the modules candetermine or at least estimate how long they take to run a process. Themodule may have some metric on the quality of the respective process.The modules may take the determined or estimated timing of variousmodules into account, automatically implementing tradeoffs wherepossible. For example, the module may decide to determine that takingmore time to achieve higher quality is advisable. The Meta-Controllercould seed a quality time target to every module in a very modularsystem. This may allow each module to self-tune itself to hit timingtargets. This allows operation of a very complicated processing systemthat needs to run in real time, without a schedule. It forms a feedbackloop.

This approach avoids the need for a hard real-time operating system. TheMeta-Controller sends the time target messages to the modules. Forexample, if a user is playing a game, the Meta-Controller may decide totell the modules to use low quality localization targets because theMeta-Controller would like to free up computing power for some othertask (e.g., on character innovation). The Meta-Controller may bestatistically defined and can provide targets that balance in differentconfigurations.

This approach may also save on system tuning. For example, a global setof modifiable algorithmic parameters may allow for tuning. For instance,operations may be tuned based on location (e.g., on a plane, driving acar, in a hospital, in a living room). The approach allows for bundlingof all these parameters. For example, feature tracking can have lowquality targets, so only requires a relatively short time, and remainderof the time budget can be used for other processing.

Classical “features from accelerated segment test” (FAST) featureextractors (as discussed in some detail above) may be configured into amassively parallel byte-matching system General Purpose Set TheoreticProcessor (GPSTP). As noted above the GPSTP is a processor that doescomparisons only. The resulting feature extractor has outputs andcapabilities similar to FAST, but is implemented completely throughbrute-force search and comparison rather than mathematics. The featureextractor would be located near the camera, to immediately processframes into Feature Data (x, y, z, basic descriptor information), in oneor more embodiments. Massively parallel comparisons would be performedon serially streamed data via the GPSTPs.

The approach would essentially make an image sequential, and have GPSTPfind every type of FAST feature possible. The types of features areenumerated and GPSTP finds the features because there is only a limitedsize, for example 8 bits per pixel. The GPSTP rolls through and findevery combination via a brute force search. Any image can be serialized,and any feature of interest may be transformed. A transform may beperformed on the image beforehand, which makes the bit patternsinvariant to rotation or scaling, etc. GPSTP takes some group of pixelsand applies one or more convolution operations.

Various example embodiments of the invention are described herein.Reference is made to these examples in a non-limiting sense. They areprovided to illustrate more broadly applicable aspects of the invention.Various changes may be made to the invention described and equivalentsmay be substituted without departing from the true spirit and scope ofthe invention. In addition, many modifications may be made to adapt aparticular situation, material, composition of matter, process, processact(s) or step(s) to the objective(s), spirit or scope of the presentinvention. Further, as will be appreciated by those with skill in theart that each of the individual variations described and illustratedherein has discrete components and features which may be readilyseparated from or combined with the features of any of the other severalembodiments without departing from the scope or spirit of the presentinventions. All such modifications are intended to be within the scopeof claims associated with this disclosure.

The invention includes methods that may be performed using the subjectdevices. The methods may comprise the act of providing such a suitabledevice. Such provision may be performed by the end user. In other words,the “providing” act merely requires the end user obtain, access,approach, position, set-up, activate, power-up or otherwise act toprovide the requisite device in the subject method. Methods recitedherein may be carried out in any order of the recited events which islogically possible, as well as in the recited order of events.

Example aspects of the invention, together with details regardingmaterial selection and manufacture have been set forth above. As forother details of the present invention, these may be appreciated inconnection with the above-referenced patents and publications as well asgenerally known or appreciated by those with skill in the art. The samemay hold true with respect to method-based aspects of the invention interms of additional acts as commonly or logically employed.

In addition, though the invention has been described in reference toseveral examples optionally incorporating various features, theinvention is not to be limited to that which is described or indicatedas contemplated with respect to each variation of the invention. Variouschanges may be made to the invention described and equivalents (whetherrecited herein or not included for the sake of some brevity) may besubstituted without departing from the true spirit and scope of theinvention. In addition, where a range of values is provided, it isunderstood that every intervening value, between the upper and lowerlimit of that range and any other stated or intervening value in thatstated range, is encompassed within the invention.

Also, it is contemplated that any optional feature of the inventivevariations described may be set forth and claimed independently, or incombination with any one or more of the features described herein.Reference to a singular item, includes the possibility that there areplural of the same items present. More specifically, as used herein andin claims associated hereto, the singular forms “a,” “an,” “said,” and“the” include plural referents unless the specifically stated otherwise.In other words, use of the articles allow for “at least one” of thesubject item in the description above as well as claims associated withthis disclosure. It is further noted that such claims may be drafted toexclude any optional element. As such, this statement is intended toserve as antecedent basis for use of such exclusive terminology as“solely,” “only” and the like in connection with the recitation of claimelements, or use of a “negative” limitation.

Without the use of such exclusive terminology, the term “comprising” inclaims associated with this disclosure shall allow for the inclusion ofany additional element—irrespective of whether a given number ofelements are enumerated in such claims, or the addition of a featurecould be regarded as transforming the nature of an element set forth insuch claims. Except as specifically defined herein, all technical andscientific terms used herein are to be given as broad a commonlyunderstood meaning as possible while maintaining claim validity.

The breadth of the present invention is not to be limited to theexamples provided and/or the subject specification, but rather only bythe scope of claim language associated with this disclosure.

The above description of illustrated embodiments is not intended to beexhaustive or to limit the embodiments to the precise forms disclosed.Although specific embodiments of and examples are described herein forillustrative purposes, various equivalent modifications can be madewithout departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure, as willbe recognized by those skilled in the relevant art. The teachingsprovided herein of the various embodiments can be applied to otherdevices that implement virtual or AR or hybrid systems and/or whichemploy user interfaces, not necessarily the example AR systems generallydescribed above.

For instance, the foregoing detailed description has set forth variousembodiments of the devices and/or processes via the use of blockdiagrams, schematics, and examples. Insofar as such block diagrams,schematics, and examples contain one or more functions and/oroperations, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that eachfunction and/or operation within such block diagrams, flowcharts, orexamples can be implemented, individually and/or collectively, by a widerange of hardware, software, firmware, or virtually any combinationthereof.

In one embodiment, the present subject matter may be implemented viaApplication Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs). However, those skilledin the art will recognize that the embodiments disclosed herein, inwhole or in part, can be equivalently implemented in standard integratedcircuits, as one or more computer programs executed by one or morecomputers (e.g., as one or more programs running on one or more computersystems), as one or more programs executed by on one or more controllers(e.g., microcontrollers) as one or more programs executed by one or moreprocessors (e.g., microprocessors), as firmware, or as virtually anycombination thereof, and that designing the circuitry and/or writing thecode for the software and or firmware would be well within the skill ofone of ordinary skill in the art in light of the teachings of thisdisclosure.

When logic is implemented as software and stored in memory, logic orinformation can be stored on any computer-readable medium for use by orin connection with any processor-related system or method. In thecontext of this disclosure, a memory is a computer-readable medium thatis an electronic, magnetic, optical, or other physical device or meansthat contains or stores a computer and/or processor program. Logicand/or the information can be embodied in any computer-readable mediumfor use by or in connection with an instruction execution system,apparatus, or device, such as a computer-based system,processor-containing system, or other system that can fetch theinstructions from the instruction execution system, apparatus, or deviceand execute the instructions associated with logic and/or information.

In the context of this specification, a “computer-readable medium” canbe any element that can store the program associated with logic and/orinformation for use by or in connection with the instruction executionsystem, apparatus, and/or device. The computer-readable medium can be,for example, but is not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical,electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus or device.More specific examples (a non-exhaustive list) of the computer readablemedium would include the following: a portable computer diskette(magnetic, compact flash card, secure digital, or the like), a randomaccess memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmableread-only memory (EPROM, EEPROM, or Flash memory), a portable compactdisc read-only memory (CDROM), digital tape, and other nontransitorymedia.

Many of the methods described herein can be performed with variations.For example, many of the methods may include additional acts, omit someacts, and/or perform acts in a different order than as illustrated ordescribed.

The various embodiments described above can be combined to providefurther embodiments. To the extent that they are not inconsistent withthe specific teachings and definitions herein, all of the U.S. patents,U.S. patent application publications, U.S. patent applications, foreignpatents, foreign patent applications and non-patent publicationsreferred to in this specification and/or listed in the Application DataSheet. Aspects of the embodiments can be modified, if necessary, toemploy systems, circuits and concepts of the various patents,applications and publications to provide yet further embodiments.

These and other changes can be made to the embodiments in light of theabove-detailed description. In general, in the following claims, theterms used should not be construed to limit the claims to the specificembodiments disclosed in the specification and the claims, but should beconstrued to include all possible embodiments along with the full scopeof equivalents to which such claims are entitled. Accordingly, theclaims are not limited by the disclosure.

Moreover, the various embodiments described above can be combined toprovide further embodiments. Aspects of the embodiments can be modified,if necessary to employ concepts of the various patents, applications andpublications to provide yet further embodiments.

These and other changes can be made to the embodiments in light of theabove-detailed description. In general, in the following claims, theterms used should not be construed to limit the claims to the specificembodiments disclosed in the specification and the claims, but should beconstrued to include all possible embodiments along with the full scopeof equivalents to which such claims are entitled. Accordingly, theclaims are not limited by the disclosure.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of displaying augmented reality,comprising: projecting light associated with a virtual object to auser's eyes, wherein the virtual object comprises a virtual userinterface; determining a user input from the user based on aninteraction of the user with at least one component of the virtual userinterface; determining an action to be performed based on the receiveduser input; tracking at least one characteristic of the user, whereinthe user input is determined based on the tracked characteristic and apredetermined pattern associated with the tracked characteristic; andperforming the action responsive to the received user input, wherein theaction comprises projecting light associated with one or more additionalvirtual objects to the user's eyes, wherein the projection of thevirtual user interface is based on Wi-Fi signal strength data or cellphone differential signal strength and the virtual user interfacecomprises a floating virtual screen rendered using hand-centeredrendering, and the projection of the virtual user interface is based atleast in part on an environmental data.
 2. A method of displayingaugmented reality, comprising: projecting light associated with avirtual object to a user's eyes, wherein the virtual object comprises avirtual user interface; determining a user input from the user based onan interaction of the user with at least one component of the virtualuser interface; determining an action to be performed based on thereceived user input; and performing the action in response to thereceived user input, the action comprising projecting light associatedwith one or more additional virtual objects to the user's eyes, whereinthe projection of the virtual user interface is based on Wi-Fi signalstrength data or cellphone differential signal strength and the virtualuser interface is a floating virtual interface rendered usingbody-centered rendering.
 3. The method of claim 2, further comprisingstoring a map of a real world, wherein the map comprises coordinates ofreal objects of the real world and the projection of the virtual userinterface is based at least in part on the stored map, and furthercomprising a first object recognizer recognizing a first object of saidreal objects and a second object recognizer recognizing a subset of thefirst object.
 4. The method of claim 2, wherein the projecting lightcomprises emitting light, the at least one characteristic pertains tolight reflected back from the user's eyes and the tracking at least onecharacteristic of the user includes varying at least one parameter ofthe emitted light to impose a recognizable pattern on the emitted lightand detecting said light reflected back from the user's eyes.
 5. Themethod of claim 2, wherein the one or more additional virtual objectscomprises a halo.
 6. The method of claim 2, further comprising trackingat least one characteristic of the user, wherein the user input isdetermined based on the tracked characteristic and a predeterminedpattern associated with the tracked characteristic, or a correlationbetween the tracked characteristics and a set of known characteristics,and wherein the one or more additional virtual objects comprises a haloand the tracking at least one characteristic of the user includestracking a frequency of said interaction of said user.
 7. The method ofclaim 6, wherein the at least one characteristic pertains to the user'seyes.
 8. The method of claim 6, wherein the at least one characteristicpertains to the user's hands.
 9. The method of claim 6, wherein the atleast one characteristic pertains to the user's interaction with aninanimate totem.
 10. The method of claim 6, wherein the at least onecharacteristic pertains to a head pose of the user.
 11. The method ofclaim 6, wherein the at least one characteristic pertains to a naturalfeature pose of the user.
 12. The method of claim 6, wherein thetracking at least one characteristic of the user includes tracking aforce of said interaction of said user.
 13. The method of claim 6,wherein the tracking at least one characteristic of the user includestracking a frequency of said interaction of said user.